Full Sail Capital LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Full Sail Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,307 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the quarter. Full Sail Capital LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,266,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. WFA Asset Management Corp raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 27.0% in the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $427,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the period. Red Tortoise LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 2.6% during the first quarter. Red Tortoise LLC now owns 4,288 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,804,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. United Capital Management of KS Inc. lifted its position in Microsoft by 0.5% during the first quarter. United Capital Management of KS Inc. now owns 37,106 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $15,611,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,887 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,580,000 after buying an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wiser Wealth Management Inc grew its position in Microsoft by 30.7% during the 1st quarter. Wiser Wealth Management Inc now owns 1,700 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $715,000 after purchasing an additional 399 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $410.55, for a total transaction 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 $203,784,292.95. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total transaction of $3,050,352.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of Microsoft 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 496,369 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $203,784,292.95. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 197,829 shares of company stock valued at $80,966,837. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MSFT. Wedbush reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, October 18th. TD Cowen reduced their target price on Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price objective on Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twenty-six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $503.03.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.5 %

MSFT opened at $425.20 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $3.16 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.91. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $421.38 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $425.44. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $362.90 and a 52 week high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly 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. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.57 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.99 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.94 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft declared that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $60.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the software giant to reacquire up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company 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. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 24.75%.

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.