Prosperity Consulting Group LLC Acquires 1,935 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Prosperity Consulting Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 6.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 31,820 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,935 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 1.9% of Prosperity Consulting Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $14,222,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its position in Microsoft by 169.2% in the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at $75,000. Bellevue Group AG boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 47.5% during the 1st quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 180 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $76,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Horizon Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 1st quarter worth $80,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. DA Davidson lowered Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Microsoft from $520.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $495.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twenty-six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $502.97.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of Microsoft 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 544,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $219,349,953.73. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total value of $32,017,386.39. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 864,327 shares in the company, valued at approximately $353,189,942.01. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $432.53 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $421.01 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $424.70. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $334.69 and a 12-month high of $468.35. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $3.22 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.90.

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

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.77%. 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. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.11%.

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

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.