Austin Asset Management Co Inc Has $2.10 Million Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Austin Asset Management Co Inc raised its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,707 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 54 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 0.4% of Austin Asset Management Co Inc’s holdings, making the stock its 19th largest position. Austin Asset Management Co Inc’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,104,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. UP Strategic Wealth Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 8.9% in the 2nd quarter. UP Strategic Wealth Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,422 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,976,000 after acquiring an additional 361 shares in the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 271.1% in the second quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 26,174 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $11,698,000 after purchasing an additional 19,120 shares during the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.5% in the second quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 319,718 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $142,898,000 after purchasing an additional 7,743 shares in the last quarter. Somerset Group LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 2.9% during the second quarter. Somerset Group LLC now owns 15,299 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $6,838,000 after buying an additional 437 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Optimist Retirement Group LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 13.6% during the 2nd quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC now owns 5,638 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,520,000 after acquiring an additional 673 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Argus increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $526.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. DA Davidson lowered shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Citigroup cut their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $470.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $503.03.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $411.46 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.06 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.30. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $353.35 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $420.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $424.83.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The firm had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.57 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.99 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 12.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 24.75%.

Microsoft announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase 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 usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $410.55, for a total value of $15,600,900.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 496,369 shares in the company, valued at approximately $203,784,292.95. This trade 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 the SEC website. In other Microsoft news, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 496,369 shares in the company, valued at approximately $203,784,292.95. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 864,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $353,189,942.01. This trade represents 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 valued at $77,916,485 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.