Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Cohen Investment Advisors LLC’s 3rd Largest Position

Cohen Investment Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,599 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 493 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 5.4% of Cohen Investment Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Cohen Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $7,866,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Rebalance LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Rebalance LLC now owns 3,451 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,542,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. Innova Wealth Partners lifted its position in Microsoft by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Innova Wealth Partners now owns 4,239 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,594,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Arkansas Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Microsoft by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Arkansas Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,719 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $646,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Partnership Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 0.4% during the first quarter. Partnership Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,202 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,609,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Doheny Asset Management CA increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% during the first quarter. Doheny Asset Management CA now owns 6,397 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,691,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Trading Down 2.2 %

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $420.69 on Wednesday. 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 stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $418.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $425.13. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $311.21 and a 12-month high of $468.35. The firm has a market cap of $3.13 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.42, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued 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. Microsoft had a return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 35.96%. The business had revenue of $64.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.38 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.69 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the software giant to repurchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company 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 an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.74%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 864,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $353,189,942.01. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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. Also, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $410.55, for a total value of $15,600,900.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 496,369 shares in the company, valued at approximately $203,784,292.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $520.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, June 7th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $493.94.

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.