22,788 Shares in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Purchased by Williams Financial LLC

Williams Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 22,788 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $9,601,000. Microsoft comprises 2.4% of Williams Financial LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 13th largest position.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 1st quarter worth about $5,587,119,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Microsoft by 0.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 667,987,038 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $281,035,506,000 after acquiring an additional 3,078,099 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its stake in Microsoft by 77.6% in the first 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 acquiring an additional 2,744,900 shares during the last quarter. M&G Plc bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $846,072,000. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 31,648.5% during the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 1,871,892 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $8,366,000 after purchasing an additional 1,865,996 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 544,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $219,349,953.73. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 544,847 shares in the company, valued at $219,349,953.73. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the business’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 sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 50,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,552,000. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 190,629 shares of company stock worth $77,916,485. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.1 %

MSFT stock opened at $432.53 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $421.01 and its 200 day moving average is $424.70. The stock has a market cap of $3.22 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $334.69 and a 1-year 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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $64.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.38 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 35.95%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.69 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.77%. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 28.11%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on MSFT shares. BMO Capital Markets upped 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. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $506.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $470.00 to $495.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $520.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, October 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $502.97.

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.