Long Run Wealth Advisors LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Long Run Wealth Advisors LLC trimmed its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 14,655 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 386 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 1.7% of Long Run Wealth Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Long Run Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $6,550,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nvest Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Nvest Financial LLC now owns 10,711 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,787,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. Tiller Private Wealth Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Tiller Private Wealth Inc. now owns 1,531 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $684,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. MONECO Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 5.2% in the 2nd quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC now owns 39,794 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $17,786,000 after buying an additional 1,960 shares during the period. Western Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. Western Wealth Management LLC now owns 76,078 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $34,003,000 after buying an additional 2,956 shares during the period. Finally, Garrett Wealth Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 81.2% in the 2nd quarter. Garrett Wealth Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,078 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,376,000 after buying an additional 1,379 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $430.81 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $421.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $423.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.20 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.30, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $309.45 and a twelve month high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $64.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.38 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 35.96%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.69 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a $0.83 dividend. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.97%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, June 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America lifted their price target on Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Microsoft from $465.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on Microsoft from $520.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $494.72.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total value of $16,103,600.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 544,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $219,349,953.73. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total value of $16,103,600.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 544,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $219,349,953.73. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total value of $32,017,386.39. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 864,327 shares in the company, valued at $353,189,942.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 190,629 shares of company stock worth $77,916,485 in the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Company Profile

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.