Luts & Greenleigh Group Inc. Invests $4.67 Million in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Luts & Greenleigh Group Inc. bought a new stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 10,450 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $4,671,000. Microsoft accounts for about 4.9% of Luts & Greenleigh Group Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Towerpoint Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Towerpoint Wealth LLC now owns 8,526 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,587,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares during the period. Thrive Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 1.6% during the first quarter. Thrive Wealth Management LLC now owns 24,779 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $10,425,000 after buying an additional 393 shares in the last quarter. Onyx Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 0.5% during the first quarter. Onyx Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,038 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,961,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Lockerman Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Microsoft by 12.8% during the first quarter. Lockerman Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,081 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,717,000 after buying an additional 464 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors now owns 8,240 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,467,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $410.37 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $420.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $424.62. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $344.77 and a twelve month high of $468.35. The company has a market capitalization of $3.05 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.08 by $0.22. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.99 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 12.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan 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 plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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 paid a $0.83 dividend. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 27.39%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total value of $6,009,869.18. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 786,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Microsoft news, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $410.55, for a total value of $15,600,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 496,369 shares in the company, valued at approximately $203,784,292.95. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wedbush reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 18th. DA Davidson downgraded Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, September 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $470.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $503.03.

Microsoft Company 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.