Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Purchased by LJI Wealth Management LLC

LJI Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,987 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 0.9% of LJI Wealth Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. LJI Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $4,017,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MSFT. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its stake in Microsoft by 169.2% in the 2nd 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 during the period. Richardson Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1,290.0% in the first quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter worth about $75,000. Bellevue Group AG raised its holdings in Microsoft by 47.5% during the first quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 180 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 36.8% in the first quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 305 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $128,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Citigroup dropped their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Argus upped their price objective on Microsoft from $475.00 to $526.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $470.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, October 31st. One equities 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $503.03.

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $411.46 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.06 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.91. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $353.35 and a 12-month high of $468.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company’s 50-day moving average is $420.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $424.83.

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

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.81%. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 24.75%.

Microsoft announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to buyback $60.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the software giant to reacquire up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total transaction of $1,027,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 50,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,552,000. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total transaction of $16,103,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 544,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $219,349,953.73. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total value of $1,027,600.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 50,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,552,000. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.