Beam Wealth Advisors Inc. Increases Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Nov 1st, 2023

Beam Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report) by 4.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,602 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 0.9% of Beam Wealth Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Beam Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,226,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sightline Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.9% during the second quarter. Sightline Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,337 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $962,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the period. Stevens Capital Partners grew its holdings in Microsoft by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Stevens Capital Partners now owns 1,516 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $516,000 after buying an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Bluffs Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% during the second quarter. Eagle Bluffs Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,577 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,602,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL increased its stake in Microsoft by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 4,208 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,213,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the period. Finally, Arbor Capital Management Inc. ADV raised its holdings in Microsoft by 0.5% during the first quarter. Arbor Capital Management Inc. ADV now owns 7,166 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,074,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. 69.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $338.11 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $2.51 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.73, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.64. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $213.43 and a 1 year high of $366.78. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $326.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $325.31.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 24th. The software giant reported $2.99 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.65 by $0.34. The company had revenue of $56.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $54.52 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 38.79% and a net margin of 35.31%. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.35 EPS. Analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 11.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company 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 represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.89%. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.33%.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 26,815 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $327.37, for a total transaction of $8,778,426.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 198,373 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $64,941,369.01. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 26,815 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $327.37, for a total transaction of $8,778,426.55. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 198,373 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,941,369.01. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 38,234 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Friday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $328.43, for a total value of $12,557,192.62. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 800,668 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $262,963,391.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on MSFT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $385.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, September 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $400.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, October 2nd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 26th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $340.00 to $405.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 19th. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $384.34.

View Our Latest Stock Analysis on Microsoft

Microsoft Company 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.