Delta Financial Advisors LLC Grows Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Delta Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 30,831 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 5.3% of Delta Financial Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Delta Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $13,780,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Chris Bulman Inc bought a new position in Microsoft during the second quarter valued at about $1,104,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 31,648.5% during the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 1,871,892 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $8,366,000 after purchasing an additional 1,865,996 shares in the last quarter. Umpqua Bank grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. Umpqua Bank now owns 34,614 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $15,471,000 after purchasing an additional 861 shares during the last quarter. Parcion Private Wealth LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 9.3% in the second quarter. Parcion Private Wealth LLC now owns 63,962 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $28,588,000 after buying an additional 5,442 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stonebrook Private Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.6% in the second quarter. Stonebrook Private Inc. now owns 39,793 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $17,785,000 after buying an additional 218 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday. UBS Group dropped their price target on Microsoft from $520.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $495.68.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total transaction of $1,027,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 50,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,552,000. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the business’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 transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 50,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,552,000. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 17,378 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.85, for a total value of $7,157,129.30. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 150,161 shares in the company, valued at approximately $61,843,807.85. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 190,629 shares of company stock worth $77,916,485 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 2.1 %

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $427.51 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $420.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $424.56. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $324.39 and a twelve month high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.27. The company has a market capitalization of $3.18 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.01, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $64.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.38 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 35.95%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.69 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.02 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This is a positive change 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 0.78%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 28.74%.

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the software giant to purchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication 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.