Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Holdings Boosted by Farther Finance Advisors LLC

Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 40.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 99,508 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 28,567 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 2.2% of Farther Finance Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Farther Finance Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $45,448,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. United Advisor Group LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $9,538,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 51.4% in the fourth quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 6,646 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,499,000 after buying an additional 2,256 shares in the last quarter. O Dell Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 25.5% in the fourth quarter. O Dell Group LLC now owns 6,255 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,352,000 after buying an additional 1,271 shares in the last quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $1,875,000. Finally, PCA Investment Advisory Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. PCA Investment Advisory Services Inc. now owns 10,352 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,892,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total transaction of $6,009,869.18. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 786,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total transaction of $6,009,869.18. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 786,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 17,378 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.85, for a total value of $7,157,129.30. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 150,161 shares in the company, valued at approximately $61,843,807.85. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 190,629 shares of company stock worth $77,916,485. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $465.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Microsoft from $520.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America boosted their target price on Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $493.47.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $416.32 on Friday. 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $417.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $424.63. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $324.39 and a 12-month high of $468.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.09 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.25, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 analysts’ expectations of $64.38 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 35.96%. The company’s revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.69 EPS. Research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.02 EPS for the current year.

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

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 25.40%.

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.