Family Investment Center Inc. Raises Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Family Investment Center Inc. raised its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.2% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,812 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. Family Investment Center Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $810,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. waypoint wealth counsel raised its holdings in Microsoft by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. waypoint wealth counsel now owns 15,198 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $6,792,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. CAP Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 5.2% in the second quarter. CAP Partners LLC now owns 4,676 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,090,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares during the period. Oakworth Capital Inc. increased its stake in Microsoft by 1.6% in the second quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. now owns 47,998 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $21,453,000 after purchasing an additional 739 shares during the last quarter. Meridian Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft during the second quarter worth about $5,893,000. Finally, Mason & Associates Inc boosted its stake in Microsoft by 9.1% in the 2nd quarter. Mason & Associates Inc now owns 9,580 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,282,000 after buying an additional 803 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 approximately $20,552,000. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, 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 value of $1,027,600.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 50,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,552,000. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total transaction of $32,017,386.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 864,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $353,189,942.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $435.15 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.23 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.90. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $422.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $423.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $309.45 and a 1-year high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $64.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 period in the prior year, the business earned $2.69 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.97%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on MSFT. New Street Research assumed coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, June 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $570.00 price objective for the company. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $485.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $506.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $520.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on Microsoft from $520.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $494.72.

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.