Hoxton Planning & Management LLC Purchases 182 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Hoxton Planning & Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,930 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 182 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 2.1% of Hoxton Planning & Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $4,438,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Castle Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Castle Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,088 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,041,000 after buying an additional 102 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Microsoft by 19.4% in the fourth quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 103,199 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $38,807,000 after acquiring an additional 16,786 shares during the last quarter. MontVue Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $549,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 13.9% during the 4th quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 344 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $129,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CNB Bank raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. CNB Bank now owns 25,066 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $9,426,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.9 %

MSFT stock opened at $435.15 on Wednesday. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $309.45 and a 1-year high of $468.35. The stock has a market cap of $3.23 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company’s 50 day moving average is $422.31 and its 200 day moving average is $423.73.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $64.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.38 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 35.96%. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.69 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.76%. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 25.97%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total value of $6,009,869.18. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 786,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total value of $6,009,869.18. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 786,933 shares in the company, valued at $328,473,703.53. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $410.55, for a total transaction of $15,600,900.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 496,369 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $203,784,292.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 190,629 shares of company stock worth $77,916,485 in the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Mizuho increased their price objective on Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $470.00 to $495.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, June 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $494.72.

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.