Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Bought by Ameritas Advisory Services LLC

Ameritas Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 84,346 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 2,024 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 1.4% of Ameritas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $37,698,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC now owns 28,074 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $10,557,000 after acquiring an additional 1,837 shares during the period. Insight Holdings Group LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 31.3% during the 4th quarter. Insight Holdings Group LLC now owns 162,010 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $60,922,000 after purchasing an additional 38,610 shares during the period. Wilson & Boucher Capital Management LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Wilson & Boucher Capital Management LLC now owns 8,528 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,207,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Unconventional Investor LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $215,000. Finally, Hudson Value Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC now owns 24,795 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,324,000 after buying an additional 560 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $506.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. UBS Group decreased their price target on Microsoft from $520.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. DA Davidson lowered 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, September 23rd. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Microsoft from $520.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $493.94.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $416.06 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $418.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $425.03. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $314.90 and a 52 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 company has a market cap of $3.09 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 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 analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.69 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.80%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.74%.

Microsoft declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the software giant to buy 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.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 544,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $219,349,953.73. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total value of $32,017,386.39. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 864,327 shares in the company, valued at $353,189,942.01. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 544,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $219,349,953.73. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 190,629 shares of company stock worth $77,916,485 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.