Root Financial Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report) by 34.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,574 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 399 shares during the period. Root Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $536,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. DGS Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 19.9% during the first quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 14,342 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,422,000 after purchasing an additional 2,383 shares in the last quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 20.8% during the first quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 1,138,469 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $351,001,000 after purchasing an additional 196,338 shares in the last quarter. Altus Wealth Group LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 1.2% in the first quarter. Altus Wealth Group LLC now owns 12,712 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,919,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the period. Powell Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 16.2% in the first quarter. Powell Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,578 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $795,000 after buying an additional 359 shares during the period. Finally, Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 8.2% in the first quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC now owns 6,782 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,921,000 after buying an additional 512 shares during the period. 69.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several brokerages recently weighed in on MSFT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $385.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, September 22nd. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $430.00 to $432.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 26th. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $320.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 24th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $370.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 26th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $384.34.
Insider Activity
In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 26,815 shares of the business’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 value of $8,778,426.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 198,373 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,941,369.01. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 26,815 shares of the company’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 directly owns 198,373 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,941,369.01. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 38,234 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 800,668 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $262,963,391.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.
Microsoft Stock Performance
NASDAQ MSFT opened at $352.80 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The company has a market capitalization of $2.62 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.88. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $213.43 and a 12-month high of $366.78. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $328.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $326.42.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 24th. The software giant reported $2.99 EPS 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 net margin of 35.31% and a return on equity of 38.79%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.35 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 11.11 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. 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 boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.85%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 29.04%.
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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