Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Richmond Brothers Inc.

Richmond Brothers Inc. lessened its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 11.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,544 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 577 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 4.0% of Richmond Brothers Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Richmond Brothers Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,031,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. UP Strategic Wealth Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 8.9% during the 2nd quarter. UP Strategic Wealth Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,422 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,976,000 after buying an additional 361 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd raised its holdings in Microsoft by 271.1% during the 2nd quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 26,174 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $11,698,000 after buying an additional 19,120 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance raised its holdings in Microsoft by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 319,718 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $142,898,000 after buying an additional 7,743 shares during the period. Somerset Group LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 2.9% during the 2nd 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 during the period. Finally, Optimist Retirement Group LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 13.6% during the 2nd quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC now owns 5,638 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,520,000 after buying an additional 673 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.7 %

MSFT stock opened at $411.46 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $420.55 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $424.83. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $353.35 and a one year high of $468.35. The stock 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 (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.99 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.96 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. 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 yield of 0.81%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.75%.

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to buyback $60.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the software giant to reacquire up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $470.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. One investment 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $503.03.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were 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 represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the business’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 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 496,369 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $203,784,292.95. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485 over the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.