First Command Advisory Services Inc. Raises Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

First Command Advisory Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 4.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 24,135 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 1,124 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 0.1% of First Command Advisory Services Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position. First Command Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $10,787,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Liontrust Investment Partners LLP boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 231.7% during the 2nd quarter. Liontrust Investment Partners LLP now owns 666,372 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $297,835,000 after purchasing an additional 465,464 shares during the period. Callan Family Office LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 195.4% in the second quarter. Callan Family Office LLC now owns 17,119 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $7,651,000 after buying an additional 11,323 shares in the last quarter. Shaker Investments LLC OH lifted its stake in Microsoft by 28.0% during the 2nd quarter. Shaker Investments LLC OH now owns 10,798 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,826,000 after acquiring an additional 2,359 shares in the last quarter. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC now owns 17,187 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $7,682,000 after acquiring an additional 553 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pegasus Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Microsoft by 2.4% during the second quarter. Pegasus Asset Management Inc. now owns 37,277 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $16,661,000 after purchasing an additional 876 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $506.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Mizuho increased their price objective on Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, 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. Two 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 an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $493.94.

Microsoft Stock Down 2.2 %

MSFT stock opened at $420.69 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $418.77 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $425.13. 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 has a market capitalization of $3.13 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.42, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $311.21 and a one 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 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 analysts’ expectations of $64.38 billion. The firm’s revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.69 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a $0.83 dividend. 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 0.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.74%.

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the software giant to repurchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 544,847 shares in the company, valued at $219,349,953.73. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 17,378 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.85, for a total value of $7,157,129.30. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 150,161 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $61,843,807.85. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the business’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 value of $16,103,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 544,847 shares in the company, valued at $219,349,953.73. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over 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 insiders.

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.