Investment House LLC Buys 786 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Investment House LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 241,420 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 786 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 6.2% of Investment House LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Investment House LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $107,903,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Rebalance LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Rebalance LLC now owns 3,451 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,542,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Innova Wealth Partners grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Innova Wealth Partners now owns 4,239 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,594,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Arkansas Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Arkansas Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,719 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $646,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Partnership Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% during the first quarter. Partnership Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,202 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,609,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Doheny Asset Management CA boosted its position in Microsoft by 0.4% during the first quarter. Doheny Asset Management CA now owns 6,397 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,691,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Argus boosted their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $526.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. TD Cowen increased their target price on Microsoft from $470.00 to $495.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $520.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $494.72.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 544,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $219,349,953.73. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 544,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $219,349,953.73. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 17,378 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.85, for a total value of $7,157,129.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 150,161 shares in the company, valued at $61,843,807.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $435.27 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $420.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $424.18. The company has a market cap of $3.24 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.69, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.90. 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 Co. has a one year low of $309.45 and a one year high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analyst estimates of $64.38 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 35.95%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.69 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

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

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $60.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the software giant to purchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.