MBE Wealth Management LLC Sells 24 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

MBE Wealth Management LLC lowered its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,118 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 24 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 0.6% of MBE Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. MBE Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $947,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 667,987,038 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $281,035,506,000 after purchasing an additional 3,078,099 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $35,920,047,000. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 83,571,070 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $35,160,020,000 after buying an additional 842,884 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 25,381,692 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $9,544,532,000 after buying an additional 403,409 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.7% in the second quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 13,640,068 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $6,096,428,000 after acquiring an additional 360,171 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $219,349,953.73. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total value of $16,103,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 544,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $219,349,953.73. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total transaction of $6,009,869.18. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 786,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 190,629 shares of company stock worth $77,916,485 in the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.8 %

MSFT opened at $435.27 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.27. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $420.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $424.03. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $309.45 and a one year high of $468.35. The stock has a market cap of $3.24 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.90.

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

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the software giant to reacquire up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis 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 presently 25.97%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on MSFT shares. TD Cowen increased their price target on Microsoft from $470.00 to $495.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Mizuho lifted their target price on Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Tigress Financial upped their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Microsoft from $520.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently 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.