MCF Advisors LLC Buys 44 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

MCF Advisors LLC grew its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 31,821 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 1.1% of MCF Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. MCF Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $14,222,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Bath Savings Trust Co raised its holdings in Microsoft by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Bath Savings Trust Co now owns 92,790 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $39,039,000 after purchasing an additional 954 shares in the last quarter. jvl associates llc increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 26.4% in the 1st quarter. jvl associates llc now owns 3,856 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,622,000 after acquiring an additional 805 shares in the last quarter. Emprise Bank bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 1st quarter worth about $8,006,000. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,749 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,157,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Great Waters Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 6.2% in the 1st quarter. Great Waters Wealth Management now owns 4,758 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,002,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MSFT. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $485.00 to $470.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $495.68.

Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT opened at $418.16 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 cap of $3.11 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.20, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.90. The company’s 50 day moving average is $419.66 and its 200 day moving average is $424.51. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $324.39 and a 12-month high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $64.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.38 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 35.95%. The firm’s revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.69 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.02 EPS for the current 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 issued a $0.83 dividend. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.79%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.74%.

Microsoft announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the software giant to buy up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total transaction of $16,103,600.00. Following the sale, the insider now 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were 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 trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the insider now owns 544,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $219,349,953.73. The trade was 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. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.