Alpha Financial Partners LLC Buys 659 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Alpha Financial Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 33.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,603 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 659 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 1.0% of Alpha Financial Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Alpha Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,164,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its position in Microsoft by 169.2% during the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1,290.0% in the 1st quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at about $75,000. Bellevue Group AG grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 47.5% during the first quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 180 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Horizon Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the first quarter worth approximately $80,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on MSFT. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their target price on shares of Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $503.03.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $410.37 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $344.77 and a 1-year high of $468.35. The firm has a market cap of $3.05 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $420.69 and a 200-day moving average of $424.62.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.08 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.99 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 12.98 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 27.39%.

Microsoft announced that its board has approved a stock 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 usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 544,847 shares in the company, valued at $219,349,953.73. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of Microsoft 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 directly owns 544,847 shares in the company, valued at $219,349,953.73. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $6,009,869.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 786,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.