Smith Thornton Advisors LLC Invests $2.77 Million in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Smith Thornton Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 6,191 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $2,767,000. Microsoft makes up approximately 2.0% of Smith Thornton Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Savvy Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Microsoft by 74.0% in the 2nd quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. now owns 18,264 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $8,163,000 after purchasing an additional 7,765 shares during the period. Scientech Research LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 516.6% during the 2nd quarter. Scientech Research LLC now owns 7,590 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,392,000 after acquiring an additional 6,359 shares during the period. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 6.9% during the 2nd quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC now owns 55,261 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $24,699,000 after acquiring an additional 3,561 shares during the period. Lummis Asset Management LP grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Lummis Asset Management LP now owns 13,247 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,921,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the period. Finally, Marathon Capital Management grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter. Marathon Capital Management now owns 25,533 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $11,412,000 after acquiring an additional 1,014 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $423.03 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $421.11 and its 200 day moving average is $425.32. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $362.90 and a 1-year high of $468.35. The stock has a market cap of $3.15 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.91.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.99 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.78%. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 27.39%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total transaction of $3,050,352.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,792,039.56. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total transaction of $3,050,352.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total value of $16,103,600.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 544,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $219,349,953.73. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 197,829 shares of company stock valued at $80,966,837. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Mizuho increased their price objective on Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $503.03.

Microsoft Company 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.