FSB Premier Wealth Management Inc. Increases Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

FSB Premier Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 23.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,666 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,284 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 1.3% of FSB Premier Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. FSB Premier Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,979,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the first quarter valued at $5,587,119,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Microsoft by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 667,987,038 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $281,035,506,000 after buying an additional 3,078,099 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its holdings in Microsoft by 77.6% in the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 6,281,925 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,642,931,000 after buying an additional 2,744,900 shares during the period. Global Assets Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 1st quarter valued at about $989,814,000. Finally, M&G Plc purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 1st quarter worth about $846,072,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $410.55, for a total transaction of $15,600,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 496,369 shares in the company, valued at $203,784,292.95. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Microsoft news, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 496,369 shares in the company, valued at approximately $203,784,292.95. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 544,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $219,349,953.73. 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 valued at $77,916,485. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $416.72 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 company has a market capitalization of $3.10 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $324.39 and a twelve month high of $468.35. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $419.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of $424.54.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $64.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.38 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.69 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the software giant to purchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 0.80%. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.74%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on MSFT. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $520.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. 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. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Microsoft from $470.00 to $495.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, DA Davidson lowered shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $495.68.

Microsoft 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.