J. W. Coons Advisors LLC Has $20.11 Million Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

J. W. Coons Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 44,998 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 477 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 4.9% of J. W. Coons Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. J. W. Coons Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $20,112,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Microsoft by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 664,908,939 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $250,032,357,000 after purchasing an additional 15,701,937 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the first quarter valued at approximately $5,587,119,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 77.6% in the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 6,281,925 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,642,931,000 after purchasing an additional 2,744,900 shares during the period. Global Assets Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the first quarter worth approximately $989,814,000. Finally, M&G Plc bought a new position in Microsoft in the 1st quarter worth approximately $846,072,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.4 %

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $415.84 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.09 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $324.39 and a fifty-two week 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 $417.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $424.74.

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

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.80%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.74%.

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $60.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the software giant to reacquire up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $506.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. UBS Group decreased 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. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, DA Davidson lowered shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $493.47.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total transaction of $16,103,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 544,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $219,349,953.73. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total transaction of $16,103,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 544,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $219,349,953.73. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total transaction of $6,009,869.18. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 786,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $328,473,703.53. The trade was 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 worth $77,916,485 over the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.