Acorn Financial Advisory Services Inc. ADV Has $5.06 Million Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Oct 18th, 2023

Acorn Financial Advisory Services Inc. ADV lowered its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report) by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,850 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 209 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 0.9% of Acorn Financial Advisory Services Inc. ADV’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Acorn Financial Advisory Services Inc. ADV’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $5,057,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. AJ Wealth Strategies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 3.5% during the second quarter. AJ Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 39,713 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $13,524,000 after purchasing an additional 1,348 shares during the period. Veracity Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 7.3% during the second quarter. Veracity Capital LLC now owns 14,073 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,792,000 after purchasing an additional 959 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.4% during the second quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 106,263 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $36,187,000 after purchasing an additional 1,496 shares during the period. Spinnaker Investment Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.6% during the second quarter. Spinnaker Investment Group LLC now owns 12,144 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,135,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the period. Finally, Clarity Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1,337.9% during the second quarter. Clarity Financial LLC now owns 40,435 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $13,770,000 after purchasing an additional 37,623 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.20% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $332.06 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.47 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.27, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.91. 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 firm’s 50 day moving average is $325.07 and its 200 day moving average is $322.52. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 25th. The software giant reported $2.69 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $56.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $55.49 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 34.15% and a return on equity of 38.70%. Microsoft’s revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.23 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 10.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 16th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 15th. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.90%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.96%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Loop Capital initiated coverage on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $425.00 target price on the stock. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $410.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, July 28th. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $360.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 17th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $400.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, September 21st. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $400.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $377.85.

Read Our Latest Stock Report on MSFT

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 38,234 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 800,668 shares in the company, valued at approximately $262,963,391.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider now owns 588,084 shares in the company, valued at approximately $198,301,924.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 38,234 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $328.43, for a total transaction of $12,557,192.62. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 800,668 shares in the company, valued at approximately $262,963,391.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 115,049 shares of company stock worth $38,195,619 in the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.