Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Holdings Lifted by SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC

SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 76,431 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,616 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 3.9% of SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $34,161,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sunpointe LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 5.3% during the second quarter. Sunpointe LLC now owns 14,221 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $6,356,000 after buying an additional 718 shares during the period. Riverstone Advisors LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. Riverstone Advisors LLC now owns 4,485 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,005,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC now owns 456,204 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $203,901,000 after purchasing an additional 23,630 shares during the period. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.4% in the second quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 148,569 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $65,426,000 after purchasing an additional 3,421 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M3 Advisory Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 21.1% during the second quarter. M3 Advisory Group LLC now owns 5,447 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,434,000 after purchasing an additional 949 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on MSFT shares. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $485.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. UBS Group cut their price objective on Microsoft from $520.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Mizuho boosted their target price on Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, New Street Research assumed coverage on Microsoft in a research note on Monday, June 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $570.00 price target for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $494.72.

Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT opened at $435.27 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $309.45 and a 1 year high of $468.35. 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 stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $420.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $424.03. The stock has a market cap of $3.24 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 35.95%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.69 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.76%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 25.97%.

Microsoft announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the software giant to purchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total transaction of $1,027,600.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 50,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,552,000. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total value of $6,009,869.18. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 786,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $328,473,703.53. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total value of $1,027,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 50,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,552,000. 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 over the last ninety days. Corporate 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.