Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Purchased by Intelligence Driven Advisers LLC

Intelligence Driven Advisers LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 18.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,480 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 544 shares during the period. Intelligence Driven Advisers LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,555,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. New Harbor Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 55.9% in the second quarter. New Harbor Financial Group LLC now owns 1,255 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $561,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. True Link Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 296.7% during the first quarter. True Link Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,027 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,274,000 after purchasing an additional 2,264 shares in the last quarter. AMG National Trust Bank lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 19.0% during the 2nd quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 81,502 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $36,427,000 after buying an additional 12,994 shares during the last quarter. Spinnaker Investment Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Spinnaker Investment Group LLC now owns 12,521 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,268,000 after buying an additional 326 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Leeward Financial Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 15.8% in the 1st quarter. Leeward Financial Partners LLC now owns 35,610 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $14,982,000 after buying an additional 4,861 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday. UBS Group reduced their target price on Microsoft from $520.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Argus lifted their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $526.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Oppenheimer downgraded Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $495.68.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total value of $16,103,600.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 544,847 shares in the company, valued at $219,349,953.73. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 50,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,552,000. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total value of $16,103,600.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 544,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $219,349,953.73. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 190,629 shares of company stock worth $77,916,485. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $418.78 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $419.90 and a two-hundred day moving average of $424.55. The stock has a market cap of $3.11 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.26, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 12-month low of $324.39 and a 12-month high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 35.96%. Microsoft’s revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.69 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.74%.

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

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.