Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Wedbush Securities Inc.’s 4th Largest Position

Wedbush Securities Inc. lessened its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 230,311 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 4,749 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 3.7% of Wedbush Securities Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $102,937,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 13.2% in the 1st quarter. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 102,045 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $42,933,000 after purchasing an additional 11,875 shares during the period. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd now owns 642,356 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $270,252,000 after purchasing an additional 12,092 shares during the period. Bennett Selby Investments LP lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Bennett Selby Investments LP now owns 18,456 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $7,765,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares during the period. ONE Advisory Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $222,000. Finally, O Connor Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. O Connor Financial Group LLC now owns 2,214 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $931,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $424.73 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $420.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $424.56. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $326.94 and a 52-week high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.16 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.05. Microsoft had a return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 35.96%. The business had revenue of $64.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.38 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.69 earnings per share. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.02 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 28.74%.

Microsoft announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the software giant to repurchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MSFT. Argus lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $475.00 to $526.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $506.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $465.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on Microsoft from $520.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $495.58.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total value of $1,027,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 50,000 shares in the company, valued at $20,552,000. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total value of $1,027,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 50,000 shares in the company, valued at $20,552,000. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total value of $6,009,869.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 786,933 shares in the company, valued at $328,473,703.53. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

About Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation develops and supports software, services, devices and solutions worldwide. The Productivity and Business Processes segment offers office, exchange, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, office 365 Security and Compliance, Microsoft viva, and Microsoft 365 copilot; and office consumer services, such as Microsoft 365 consumer subscriptions, Office licensed on-premises, and other office services.