Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stake Boosted by Affiance Financial LLC

Affiance Financial LLC increased its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,241 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 1.3% of Affiance Financial LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. Affiance Financial LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $5,268,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. boosted its stake in Microsoft by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 26,868 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $11,561,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the period. Stonekeep Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 5.5% during the third quarter. Stonekeep Investments LLC now owns 5,701 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,453,000 after buying an additional 297 shares during the period. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA grew its holdings in Microsoft by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA now owns 1,381,517 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $594,467,000 after buying an additional 49,149 shares in the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 16,915 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $7,279,000 after acquiring an additional 1,085 shares during the period. Finally, Willner & Heller LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter. Willner & Heller LLC now owns 8,006 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,445,000 after acquiring an additional 590 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $423.46 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.15 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.91. 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 stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $420.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $426.55.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 posted $2.99 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a $0.83 dividend. 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.78%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.39%.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, October 28th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective 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. Finally, TD Cowen cut their target price on Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $503.03.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 864,327 shares in the company, valued at approximately $353,189,942.01. This trade represents a 8.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 50,000 shares in the company, valued at $20,552,000. This trade represents a 4.76 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 209,431 shares of company stock valued at $85,796,688 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.