Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Purchased by Founders Financial Securities LLC

Founders Financial Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 7.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 31,291 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,236 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 1.3% of Founders Financial Securities LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Founders Financial Securities LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $13,985,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. McAlister Sweet & Associates Inc. boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.3% during the first quarter. McAlister Sweet & Associates Inc. now owns 10,460 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,401,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the period. Waller Financial Planning Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 14.7% during the 1st quarter. Waller Financial Planning Group Inc. now owns 1,290 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $543,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares during the period. Timber Creek Capital Management LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 7.1% in the 1st quarter. Timber Creek Capital Management LLC now owns 38,428 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $16,168,000 after acquiring an additional 2,535 shares in the last quarter. Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the first quarter worth about $6,986,000. Finally, Advance Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.2% during the first quarter. Advance Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,614 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,045,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT stock opened at $416.72 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $419.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of $424.54. The company has a market capitalization of $3.10 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.08, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $324.39 and a twelve month 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.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $64.73 billion during 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%. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.69 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.02 EPS for the current year.

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

Microsoft Increases Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total value of $32,017,386.39. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 864,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $353,189,942.01. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider now directly 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 filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total value of $32,017,386.39. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 864,327 shares in the company, 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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Microsoft from $520.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Oppenheimer lowered Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Mizuho upped their price target on Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Argus lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $475.00 to $526.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $495.68.

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.