Index Fund Advisors Inc. Grows Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Index Fund Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 8.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,292 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 499 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 0.2% of Index Fund Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 24th largest position. Index Fund Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,812,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rebalance LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Rebalance LLC now owns 3,451 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,542,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. First National Bank Sioux Falls lifted its position in Microsoft by 0.4% in the second quarter. First National Bank Sioux Falls now owns 6,340 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,834,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Partnership Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 0.4% during the first quarter. Partnership Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,202 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,609,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Doheny Asset Management CA increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% during the first quarter. Doheny Asset Management CA now owns 6,397 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,691,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Flagship Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Flagship Private Wealth LLC now owns 913 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $408,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.1 %

MSFT stock opened at $416.72 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.10 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.08, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $324.39 and a twelve month high of $468.35. The company’s 50 day moving average is $419.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $424.54.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted 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 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 last year, the firm posted $2.69 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 issued a $0.83 dividend. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 28.74%.

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the software giant to buy up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MSFT. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $506.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $470.00 to $495.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Argus boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $526.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $520.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $495.68.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other 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 transaction of $6,009,869.18. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 786,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 50,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,552,000. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. 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 three months. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.