Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. grew its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 30,153 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,600 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 1.3% of Ausdal Financial Partners Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 12th largest position. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $12,975,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Breakwater Capital Group lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Breakwater Capital Group now owns 18,826 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $8,101,000 after purchasing an additional 436 shares in the last quarter. AMI Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.0% in the third quarter. AMI Investment Management Inc. now owns 21,199 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,122,000 after buying an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. jvl associates llc lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 10.2% in the third quarter. jvl associates llc now owns 4,255 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,831,000 after buying an additional 394 shares in the last quarter. Regency Capital Management Inc. DE boosted its position in Microsoft by 0.3% during the third quarter. Regency Capital Management Inc. DE now owns 15,328 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $6,595,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HBW Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC now owns 21,894 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,421,000 after acquiring an additional 581 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total value of $3,050,352.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 50,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,552,000. This trade represents a 4.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 197,829 shares of company stock valued at $80,966,837 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.5 %

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $417.79 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.30. The firm has a market cap of $3.11 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.47, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.91. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $422.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $426.21. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $362.90 and a one year high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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%. The firm’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.99 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the software giant to purchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This is an increase 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 0.79%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 27.39%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. DA Davidson downgraded Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered shares of Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $503.03.

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.