F M Investments LLC Acquires 238,088 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

F M Investments LLC grew its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 990.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 262,122 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 238,088 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 4.2% of F M Investments LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. F M Investments LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $117,199,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC now owns 28,074 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $10,557,000 after acquiring an additional 1,837 shares during the last quarter. Insight Holdings Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 31.3% during the 4th quarter. Insight Holdings Group LLC now owns 162,010 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $60,922,000 after acquiring an additional 38,610 shares in the last quarter. Wilson & Boucher Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Wilson & Boucher Capital Management LLC now owns 8,528 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,207,000 after buying an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Unconventional Investor LLC bought a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $215,000. Finally, Hudson Value Partners LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC now owns 24,795 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $9,324,000 after acquiring an additional 560 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America increased their price target on Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $520.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Argus boosted their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $526.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. New Street Research started coverage on Microsoft in a research report on Monday, June 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $570.00 target price for the company. Finally, Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, June 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $493.94.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $416.06 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $314.90 and a 1 year high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $418.32 and its 200 day moving average is $425.03. The company has a market cap of $3.09 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.05. Microsoft had a return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 35.96%. The company had revenue of $64.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.38 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.69 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.74%.

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

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total transaction of $32,017,386.39. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 864,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $353,189,942.01. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Microsoft news, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 owns 496,369 shares in the company, valued at $203,784,292.95. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total transaction of $32,017,386.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 864,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $353,189,942.01. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.