Stegent Equity Advisors Inc. Acquires 50 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Stegent Equity Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,636 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 1.3% of Stegent Equity Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Stegent Equity Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,134,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of MSFT. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its holdings 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 worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. Quarry LP bought a new position in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth about $45,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft during the second quarter valued at approximately $75,000. Bellevue Group AG grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 241.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC now owns 379 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $169,000 after acquiring an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MSFT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. 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. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Oppenheimer cut Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $504.36.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total value of $10,425,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares in the company, valued at $48,911,598. The trade was a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total transaction of $414,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 57,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. The trade was a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $449.56 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $364.13 and a 52-week high of $468.35. The firm has a market cap of $3.34 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.09, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The business’s 50 day moving average is $422.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $427.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $65.59 billion during 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 was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.99 EPS. Research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.39%.

Microsoft announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.