Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Bought by Destiny Wealth Partners LLC

Destiny Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 4.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 30,907 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,280 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 2.5% of Destiny Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Destiny Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $13,814,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $58,000. Richardson Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 1,290.0% during the first quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Bellevue Group AG lifted its stake in Microsoft by 47.5% during the first quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 180 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Horizon Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft in the first quarter worth $80,000. Finally, Cooksen Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at $86,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $428.02 on Monday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $419.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $425.06. The firm has a market cap of $3.18 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $309.45 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35. 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 (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.05. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 35.95%. The company had revenue of $64.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.38 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.69 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 28.74%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 864,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $353,189,942.01. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 864,327 shares in the company, valued at approximately $353,189,942.01. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, 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. Insiders sold a total of 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485 in the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on MSFT shares. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 13th. New Street Research began coverage on Microsoft in a report on Monday, June 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $570.00 target price for the company. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Microsoft from $465.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $493.94.

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.