Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Bought by Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc.

Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 24,430 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 1.5% of Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $10,919,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 169.2% during the second 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 period. Richardson Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 1,290.0% during the 1st quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at $75,000. Bellevue Group AG grew its holdings in Microsoft by 47.5% in the 1st quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 180 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $76,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Horizon Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Microsoft during the 1st quarter worth $80,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 1.0 %

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $410.37 on Friday. The company has a market cap 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. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $344.77 and a twelve month high of $468.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The business’s fifty day moving average is $420.69 and its 200 day moving average is $424.62.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.08 by $0.22. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. 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 previous year, the business posted $2.99 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 12.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the software giant to buy up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.81%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on MSFT. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Oppenheimer cut Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, DA Davidson lowered 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $503.03.

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.