Buck Wealth Strategies LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Buck Wealth Strategies LLC raised its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 92.3% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 21,162 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 10,158 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 2.8% of Buck Wealth Strategies LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Buck Wealth Strategies LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $9,459,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the first quarter worth $5,587,119,000. Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its position in Microsoft by 47,196.6% during the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 4,834,658 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,160,850,000 after acquiring an additional 4,824,436 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Microsoft by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 667,987,038 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $281,035,506,000 after acquiring an additional 3,078,099 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 77.6% in the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 6,281,925 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,642,931,000 after acquiring an additional 2,744,900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&G Plc acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 1st quarter valued at about $846,072,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.5 %

Microsoft stock opened at $425.20 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $421.38 and its 200 day moving average price is $425.44. The company has a market cap of $3.16 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.29. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $362.90 and a 1-year high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. The company 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%. Microsoft’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.99 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.75%.

Microsoft announced that its board has authorized a share buyback 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 buy up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, October 18th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twenty-six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $503.03.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $410.55, for a total transaction of $15,600,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 496,369 shares in the company, valued at $203,784,292.95. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total value 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. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $410.55, for a total transaction of $15,600,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 496,369 shares in the company, valued at $203,784,292.95. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 197,829 shares of company stock valued at $80,966,837. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.