Sunpointe LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Sunpointe LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 5.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,221 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 718 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 4.1% of Sunpointe LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Sunpointe LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $6,356,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Monument Capital Management raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Monument Capital Management now owns 31,264 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $11,756,000 after buying an additional 806 shares during the last quarter. Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV boosted its position in Microsoft by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV now owns 19,980 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $7,513,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares during the period. RWA Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 143.5% in the fourth quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC now owns 384,058 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $144,421,000 after purchasing an additional 226,357 shares in the last quarter. Garrison Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 34.4% during the fourth quarter. Garrison Asset Management LLC now owns 3,711 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,396,000 after purchasing an additional 950 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gimbal Financial acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $1,399,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $435.27 on Friday. The firm 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 Co. has a 1 year low of $309.45 and a 1 year high of $468.35. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $420.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $424.03.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 35.96%. The business had revenue of $64.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.38 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.69 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.97%.

Microsoft declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the software giant to purchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on MSFT. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Microsoft from $520.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, June 17th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Microsoft from $465.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $494.72.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 864,327 shares in the company, valued at $353,189,942.01. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Microsoft news, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $410.55, for a total transaction of $15,600,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 496,369 shares in the company, valued at $203,784,292.95. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the business’s 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 owns 864,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $353,189,942.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Company 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.