Kovack Advisors Inc. Purchases 4,906 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Oct 21st, 2023

Kovack Advisors Inc. raised its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report) by 8.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 60,142 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 4,906 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 2.6% of Kovack Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $20,481,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.4% during the second quarter. Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 58,133 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $19,797,000 after buying an additional 830 shares during the last quarter. Mason & Associates Inc boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 6.2% during the second quarter. Mason & Associates Inc now owns 5,244 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,786,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares during the last quarter. Trinity Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 5.9% during the second quarter. Trinity Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,659 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,246,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. PDS Planning Inc boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 9.6% during the second quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 37,441 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $12,750,000 after purchasing an additional 3,283 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kooman & Associates lifted its stake in Microsoft by 2.3% in the second quarter. Kooman & Associates now owns 3,491 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,189,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. 69.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $326.67 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.43 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.91. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $325.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $322.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 25th. The software giant reported $2.69 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.23 EPS. Analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 10.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 16th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. 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 0.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 15th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 30.96%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on MSFT shares. Tigress Financial increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $411.00 to $433.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 2nd. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $410.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, July 28th. Guggenheim raised shares of Microsoft from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 25th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $335.00 to $415.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $400.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, October 2nd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $378.11.

Read Our Latest Research Report on Microsoft

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 588,084 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $198,301,924.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 38,234 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 1st. The stock was 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 directly owns 800,668 shares in the company, valued at $262,963,391.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 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 value of $16,860,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 588,084 shares in the company, valued at $198,301,924.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 115,049 shares of company stock valued at $38,195,619. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Microsoft

(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.