BOS Asset Management LLC Acquires 189 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

BOS Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,422 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 189 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 1.5% of BOS Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. BOS Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,317,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 37,612 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $14,144,000 after buying an additional 620 shares in the last quarter. Rathbones Group PLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 3,027,214 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,138,354,000 after acquiring an additional 43,152 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its holdings in Microsoft by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 11,416,509 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,293,064,000 after purchasing an additional 104,263 shares during the last quarter. Ratio Wealth Group increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Ratio Wealth Group now owns 3,915 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,472,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. Finally, APG Asset Management US Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $132,884,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Trading Up 1.3 %

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $414.71 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.08 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $323.18 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $417.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $424.89.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $64.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.38 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 35.96%. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.69 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft announced that its board has authorized a share 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 repurchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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 issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.74%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total transaction of $6,009,869.18. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 786,933 shares in the company, valued at $328,473,703.53. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the business’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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 786,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 value of $16,103,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 544,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $219,349,953.73. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. 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 quarter. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on MSFT shares. 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 note on Wednesday, July 31st. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, DA Davidson lowered Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.