Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Purchased by Pallas Capital Advisors LLC

Pallas Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 148,569 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,421 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 2.7% of Pallas Capital Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $65,426,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Richardson Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 1,290.0% during the first quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the period. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth $58,000. Bellevue Group AG increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 47.5% during the 1st quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 180 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $76,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Horizon Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 1st quarter worth $80,000. Finally, Cooksen Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $86,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total transaction of $16,103,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 544,847 shares in the company, valued at $219,349,953.73. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the company’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 sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 50,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,552,000. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $219,349,953.73. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 190,629 shares of company stock worth $77,916,485. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $520.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $495.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $506.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $494.72.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.8 %

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $435.27 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.24 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $309.45 and a one year high of $468.35. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $420.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $424.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.27.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $64.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.38 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 35.96%. The business’s revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.69 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the software giant to buy up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.76%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.97%.

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.