Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Leelyn Smith LLC’s 10th Largest Position

Leelyn Smith LLC raised its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 7.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 20,443 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,450 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 1.8% of Leelyn Smith LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Leelyn Smith LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $9,137,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 169.2% during the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1,290.0% in the first quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft in the second quarter valued at about $75,000. Bellevue Group AG grew its stake in Microsoft by 47.5% during the 1st quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 180 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Horizon Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the 1st quarter worth approximately $80,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $432.53 on Thursday. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $334.69 and a 1 year high of $468.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.22 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.90. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $421.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $424.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.27.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $64.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.38 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 35.95%. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.69 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.02 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $60.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the software giant to repurchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.77%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 28.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Microsoft from $485.00 to $470.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twenty-six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $502.97.

Microsoft Profile

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.