Valicenti Advisory Services Inc. Boosts Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Valicenti Advisory Services Inc. grew its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 5.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 54,555 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,025 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 6.5% of Valicenti Advisory Services Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Valicenti Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $24,384,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Richardson Capital Management LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 1,290.0% during the 1st 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 last quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth approximately $58,000. Bellevue Group AG boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 47.5% in the first quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 180 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $76,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Horizon Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $80,000. Finally, Cooksen Wealth LLC bought a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $86,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $506.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Microsoft from $520.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. New Street Research assumed coverage on Microsoft in a research report on Monday, June 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $570.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $493.94.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $328,473,703.53. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total value of $6,009,869.18. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 786,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $328,473,703.53. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $219,349,953.73. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.4 %

Microsoft stock opened at $433.51 on Tuesday. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $309.45 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35. 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 firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $420.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $424.50. The stock has a market cap of $3.22 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its 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 company had revenue of $64.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.38 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.69 earnings per share. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid 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 dividend yield of 0.77%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 28.74%.

Microsoft announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to buyback $60.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the software giant to buy up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.