Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. Has $12.76 Million Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 11.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 28,553 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,959 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 1.4% of Ausdal Financial Partners Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $12,762,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 169.2% during the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 1,290.0% during the first quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares during the period. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth $75,000. Bellevue Group AG increased its holdings in Microsoft by 47.5% during the first quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 180 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $76,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Horizon Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft in the first quarter worth about $80,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT stock opened at $424.60 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $420.33 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $424.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.16 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.76, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $326.94 and a 12-month high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.05. Microsoft had a return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 35.96%. The business had revenue of $64.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.38 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.69 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.02 earnings per share for the current year.

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 issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.78%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 28.74%.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MSFT. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Mizuho boosted their target price on Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. KeyCorp increased their price target on Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $465.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Finally, Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $495.58.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total value of $6,009,869.18. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 786,933 shares in the company, valued at $328,473,703.53. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 owns 544,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $219,349,953.73. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 786,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.