Retirement Solution LLC Acquires 1,446 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Retirement Solution LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 5.1% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 29,683 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 1,446 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 3.6% of Retirement Solution LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 6th largest position. Retirement Solution LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $13,267,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Eagle Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $2,025,000. Bridgewealth Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 38.8% in the 4th quarter. Bridgewealth Advisory Group LLC now owns 2,986 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,123,000 after purchasing an additional 835 shares in the last quarter. Capital Investment Counsel Inc lifted its stake in Microsoft by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital Investment Counsel Inc now owns 52,528 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $19,753,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. Flaharty Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Flaharty Asset Management LLC now owns 9,681 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,640,000 after buying an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mather Group LLC. grew its position in Microsoft by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 85,161 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $32,024,000 after buying an additional 2,594 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on MSFT shares. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $470.00 to $495.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. DA Davidson lowered shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $493.94.

Insider Activity 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 transaction 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $353,189,942.01. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total transaction of $16,103,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 544,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $219,349,953.73. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 190,629 shares of company stock worth $77,916,485 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT stock opened at $428.02 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $309.45 and a 1 year high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The stock has a market cap of $3.18 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $419.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $424.99.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $64.73 billion for 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%. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.69 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.78%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 28.74%.

Microsoft announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the software giant to buy up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.