MONECO Advisors LLC Acquires 1,960 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

MONECO Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 5.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 39,794 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 1,960 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 2.6% of MONECO Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. MONECO Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $17,786,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Western Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in 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 last quarter. Garrett Wealth Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 81.2% during the 2nd quarter. Garrett Wealth Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,078 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,376,000 after purchasing an additional 1,379 shares in the last quarter. Shayne & Jacobs LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Shayne & Jacobs LLC now owns 17,163 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $7,671,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares in the last quarter. BetterWealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. BetterWealth LLC now owns 5,113 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,285,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,658,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $410.55, for a total value of $15,600,900.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 496,369 shares in the company, valued at approximately $203,784,292.95. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The shares were 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $410.55, for a total transaction of $15,600,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 496,369 shares in the company, valued at $203,784,292.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485 in the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.0 %

MSFT stock opened at $430.81 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $3.20 trillion, a P/E 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. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The business has a fifty day moving average of $421.60 and a 200-day moving average of $423.78.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its 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 company had revenue of $64.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.38 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 35.96%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.69 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 25.97%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on MSFT shares. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Microsoft from $520.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Argus lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $475.00 to $526.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. New Street Research started coverage on Microsoft in a report on Monday, June 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $570.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price target on Microsoft from $470.00 to $495.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $494.72.

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.