Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC’s 2nd Largest Position

Posted by Defense World Staff on Sep 30th, 2023

Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report) by 3.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 229,710 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 7,157 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 6.6% of Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $78,225,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. LifeGuide Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 7.7% during the second quarter. LifeGuide Financial Advisors LLC now owns 934 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $318,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Northstar Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 508.3% in the second quarter. Northstar Advisory Group LLC now owns 23,426 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $7,977,000 after purchasing an additional 19,575 shares in the last quarter. Prairie Sky Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter worth about $5,480,000. Atlas Private Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 33.2% in the second quarter. Atlas Private Wealth Management now owns 7,258 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,472,000 after purchasing an additional 1,810 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acropolis Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.5% in the second quarter. Acropolis Investment Management LLC now owns 16,135 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,494,000 after purchasing an additional 401 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.20% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $315.75 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $327.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $317.68. The company has a market cap of $2.35 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.59, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $213.43 and a 12-month high of $366.78.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 25th. The software giant reported $2.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $56.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.49 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 34.15% and a return on equity of 38.70%. The company’s revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.23 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 10.9 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 16th will be given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 15th. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.95%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.07%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $340.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 18th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $380.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 19th. Argus raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $371.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 31st. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $310.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 27th. Finally, Guggenheim upgraded shares of Microsoft from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 25th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $375.03.

Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on Microsoft

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 38,234 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $328.43, for a total value of $12,557,192.62. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 800,668 shares in the company, valued at approximately $262,963,391.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 38,234 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $328.43, for a total value of $12,557,192.62. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 800,668 shares in the company, valued at approximately $262,963,391.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $337.20, for a total transaction of $16,860,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 588,084 shares in the company, valued at approximately $198,301,924.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 115,049 shares of company stock valued at $38,195,619 in the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Profile

(Free Report)

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.