Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Bought by Quantum Financial Advisors LLC

Quantum Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 12.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,286 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 1,731 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 1.0% of Quantum Financial Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Quantum Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $6,577,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 169.2% in the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the period. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $45,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $75,000. Bellevue Group AG boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 47.5% during the 1st quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 180 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $76,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 241.4% in the second quarter. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC now owns 379 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $169,000 after acquiring an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of MSFT opened at $417.79 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.11 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.91. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $362.90 and a 12 month 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’s 50 day moving average is $422.62 and its 200-day moving average is $426.21.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The firm had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.99 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 12.94 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 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 of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.79%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.39%.

Microsoft announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the software giant to purchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the topic of several research reports. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Oppenheimer downgraded Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $503.03.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total transaction of $16,103,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 544,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $219,349,953.73. The trade was a 6.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 197,829 shares of company stock worth $80,966,837 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

About Microsoft

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.