D Orazio & Associates Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

D Orazio & Associates Inc. lifted its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 5.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,822 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,162 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 1.6% of D Orazio & Associates Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 13th largest holding. D Orazio & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $10,647,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Strategic Planning Group LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 32.0% during the 1st quarter. Strategic Planning Group LLC now owns 33,911 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $14,267,000 after acquiring an additional 8,230 shares during the period. Crane Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 447.9% during the 1st quarter. Crane Advisory LLC now owns 3,364 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,406,000 after acquiring an additional 2,750 shares during the period. Salvus Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. Salvus Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,868 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,731,000 after acquiring an additional 385 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 5.7% during the 1st quarter. Capital Advisors Wealth Management LLC now owns 21,475 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,035,000 after acquiring an additional 1,165 shares during the period. Finally, Wealth Management Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Management Partners LLC now owns 23,101 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,719,000 after acquiring an additional 403 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wedbush restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, October 18th. Oppenheimer cut Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twenty-six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $502.97.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.4 %

MSFT stock opened at $426.59 on Tuesday. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $331.83 and a twelve month high of $468.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a market cap of $3.17 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.90. The business has a 50 day moving average of $420.70 and a 200 day moving average of $424.58.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.05. Microsoft had a return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 35.96%. The company had revenue of $64.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.38 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.69 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast 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 $0.83 dividend. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.40%.

Microsoft declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the software giant to repurchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total value of $16,103,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total value of $16,103,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 17,378 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now 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. In the last quarter, insiders sold 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Profile

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.