tru Independence LLC Acquires 412 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

tru Independence LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,253 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 412 shares during the quarter. tru Independence LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $5,030,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its stake in Microsoft by 169.2% during the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 1,290.0% during the first 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 period. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft in the second quarter worth approximately $75,000. Bellevue Group AG grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 47.5% in the 1st quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 180 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $76,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. Finally, Horizon Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 1st quarter worth approximately $80,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Microsoft from $465.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Oppenheimer lowered Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Argus lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $526.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $506.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $495.58.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.7 %

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $424.60 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $420.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $424.56. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $326.94 and a twelve month high of $468.35. The company has a market capitalization of $3.16 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.76, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.90.

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, 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 firm had revenue of $64.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.38 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.69 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.02 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.78%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.74%.

Microsoft announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the software giant to reacquire up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the business’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 transaction, the insider now owns 544,847 shares in the company, valued at $219,349,953.73. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now owns 544,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $219,349,953.73. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was 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 directly owns 50,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,552,000. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 190,629 shares of company stock worth $77,916,485. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Microsoft

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.