Ellis Investment Partners LLC Boosts Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Ellis Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 7.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,315 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 636 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 0.9% of Ellis Investment Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. Ellis Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $4,163,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 1st quarter worth about $5,587,119,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Microsoft by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 667,987,038 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $281,035,506,000 after acquiring an additional 3,078,099 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its position in Microsoft by 77.6% during the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 6,281,925 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,642,931,000 after buying an additional 2,744,900 shares in the last quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft during the first quarter worth $989,814,000. Finally, M&G Plc purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $846,072,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $424.60 on Thursday. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $326.94 and a fifty-two week 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 firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $420.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $424.56. The company has a market capitalization of $3.16 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.38 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.69 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business 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. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.74%.

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in outstanding 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 often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Microsoft from $485.00 to $470.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Argus raised 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. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $506.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $495.58.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 786,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 786,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. 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 worth $77,916,485 over the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.