Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV lessened its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report) by 7.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 14,024 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,106 shares during the quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $4,776,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Microsoft by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 634,238,715 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $147,714,197,000 after purchasing an additional 6,129,708 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Microsoft by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 295,509,547 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $68,824,173,000 after purchasing an additional 1,951,554 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. FMR LLC now owns 200,523,373 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $57,810,889,000 after purchasing an additional 1,537,712 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the second quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 195,859,819 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $50,302,677,000 after acquiring an additional 556,020 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 112,158.6% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 150,187,424 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $36,017,948,000 after acquiring an additional 150,053,637 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.20% of the company’s stock.
Microsoft Trading Up 2.4 %
Shares of MSFT opened at $346.07 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $327.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $325.67. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $213.43 and a twelve month high of $366.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.57 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.50, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.91.
Microsoft Increases Dividend
The firm also recently declared 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 of this dividend is Wednesday, November 15th. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.87%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.33%.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several research firms have commented on MSFT. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $320.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 24th. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $411.00 to $433.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 2nd. Guggenheim upgraded shares of Microsoft from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 25th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $425.00 to $421.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 25th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $384.34.
Get Our Latest Report on Microsoft
Insider Activity
In other 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 $262,963,391.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 26,815 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $327.37, for a total value of $8,778,426.55. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 198,373 shares in the company, valued at $64,941,369.01. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $12,557,192.62. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 800,668 shares in the company, valued at $262,963,391.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 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.
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