Security Financial Services INC. Raises Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Security Financial Services INC. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,634 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the quarter. Security Financial Services INC.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,518,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Disciplined Equity Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 131.6% during the fourth quarter. Disciplined Equity Management Inc. now owns 996 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $375,000 after purchasing an additional 566 shares during the period. Lyell Wealth Management LP raised its stake in Microsoft by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Lyell Wealth Management LP now owns 76,131 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $28,628,000 after acquiring an additional 1,621 shares during the period. Channing Global Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Channing Global Advisors LLC now owns 12,039 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,527,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management now owns 217,149 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $81,657,000 after acquiring an additional 14,397 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cross Staff Investments Inc boosted its stake in Microsoft by 9.9% in the fourth quarter. Cross Staff Investments Inc now owns 9,740 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,663,000 after acquiring an additional 878 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 50,000 shares in the company, valued at $20,552,000. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total value of $32,017,386.39. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 864,327 shares in the company, valued at $353,189,942.01. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total transaction of $1,027,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 50,000 shares in the company, valued at $20,552,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 190,629 shares of company stock worth $77,916,485. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $433.51 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $420.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $424.50. The company has a market capitalization of $3.22 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.53, a P/E/G 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. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $309.45 and a 1-year high of $468.35.

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

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.

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 paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.77%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 28.74%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Tigress Financial raised their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 13th. Argus raised their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $526.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Oppenheimer upped their price target 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. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, DA Davidson cut shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $493.94.

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.