Doliver Advisors LP Raises Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Doliver Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 21.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,150 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 911 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 0.6% of Doliver Advisors LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Doliver Advisors LP’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,216,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. WFA Asset Management Corp increased its position 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 valued at $427,000 after buying an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 62.0% in the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 113,168 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $47,612,000 after buying an additional 43,327 shares in the last quarter. Crew Capital Management Ltd. grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 24.5% in the first quarter. Crew Capital Management Ltd. now owns 10,635 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,474,000 after purchasing an additional 2,094 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its holdings in Microsoft by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 41,412 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $17,423,000 after buying an additional 1,402 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ETF Store Inc. increased its position in Microsoft by 4.8% during the first quarter. ETF Store Inc. now owns 1,785 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $751,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MSFT. KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. DA Davidson downgraded Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, October 18th. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $503.03.

Microsoft Trading Down 2.8 %

Microsoft stock opened at $415.00 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $3.09 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.91. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $362.90 and a 52 week 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 stock has a 50-day moving average price of $422.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $426.00.

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

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 24.75%.

Microsoft announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program 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 programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total value of $1,027,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 50,000 shares in the company, valued at $20,552,000. The trade was a 4.76 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total value of $3,050,352.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. This trade represents a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 197,829 shares of company stock valued at $80,966,837. 0.03% of the stock is currently 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.