Second Line Capital LLC Has $6.34 Million Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Second Line Capital LLC grew its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 28.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 14,186 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,132 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 1.9% of Second Line Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Second Line Capital LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $6,341,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wallace Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 6.9% during the second quarter. Wallace Advisory Group LLC now owns 7,574 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,385,000 after buying an additional 492 shares during the last quarter. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,537,000. Granite FO LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,707,000. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC now owns 17,023 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $7,609,000 after purchasing an additional 466 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its position in Microsoft by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,647,713 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $736,508,000 after purchasing an additional 40,286 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT stock opened at $426.89 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $362.90 and a 1-year 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 firm has a market cap of $3.17 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.91. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $421.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $425.43.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.99 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 12.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.75%.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Wedbush restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 18th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $470.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $503.03.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 $353,189,942.01. This represents a 8.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 544,847 shares in the company, valued at $219,349,953.73. This trade represents a 6.84 % 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. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.