Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Holdings Raised by Occidental Asset Management LLC

Occidental Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 9.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 37,229 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 3,339 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 2.9% of Occidental Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Occidental Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $16,640,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Friedenthal Financial purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $45,000. Q3 Asset Management bought a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $2,130,000. OxenFree Capital LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $1,667,000. Citizens National Bank Trust Department raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Citizens National Bank Trust Department now owns 34,723 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $13,057,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the period. Finally, RPG Investment Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. RPG Investment Advisory LLC now owns 60,922 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $22,909,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total value of $32,017,386.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 864,327 shares in the company, valued at $353,189,942.01. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total value of $32,017,386.39. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 864,327 shares in the company, valued at $353,189,942.01. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were 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. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 130,751 shares of company stock worth $53,628,156. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, June 7th. Tigress Financial increased their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 13th. Argus boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $475.00 to $526.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Macquarie increased their target price on Microsoft from $460.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Microsoft from $520.00 to $506.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $494.72.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $401.70 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a market cap of $2.99 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.78, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $309.45 and a 12-month high of $468.35. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $427.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $422.79.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $64.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.38 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 35.96%. The firm’s revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.69 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.75%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.97%.

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.