Level Financial Advisors Sells 59 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Level Financial Advisors trimmed its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,707 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 59 shares during the quarter. Level Financial Advisors’ holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,210,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Kiley Juergens Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 6.3% during the 2nd quarter. Kiley Juergens Wealth Management LLC now owns 116,160 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $51,918,000 after buying an additional 6,897 shares during the period. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC now owns 9,587 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,285,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the period. Griffin Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. now owns 83,564 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $37,349,000 after buying an additional 795 shares during the period. Proffitt & Goodson Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. Proffitt & Goodson Inc. now owns 10,901 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,872,000 after buying an additional 280 shares during the period. Finally, Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co now owns 34,234 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $15,301,000 after buying an additional 1,301 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $429.17 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.19 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.16, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.90. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $420.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $424.67. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $309.45 and a twelve month high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $64.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.69 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.77%. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.74%.

Microsoft announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the software giant to reacquire up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Argus increased their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $526.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. New Street Research initiated coverage on Microsoft in a report on Monday, June 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $570.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $485.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $493.94.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 50,000 shares in the company, valued at $20,552,000. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 544,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $219,349,953.73. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total transaction of $1,027,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 50,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,552,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 190,629 shares of company stock worth $77,916,485. Corporate 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.