Allen Investment Management LLC Acquires 143,444 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Allen Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 7.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,976,672 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 143,444 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 10.7% of Allen Investment Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its biggest holding. Allen Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $883,474,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. West Paces Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 5.2% in the 1st quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. now owns 9,725 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,091,000 after purchasing an additional 478 shares during the period. Ayalon Insurance Comp Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 4.0% during the first quarter. Ayalon Insurance Comp Ltd. now owns 16,932 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $7,124,000 after purchasing an additional 644 shares during the period. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 18.4% in the first quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 14,071 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,920,000 after purchasing an additional 2,190 shares during the last quarter. Altus Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 24.0% in the first quarter. Altus Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,327 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $979,000 after buying an additional 451 shares during the period. Finally, Henrickson Nauta Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 1.9% during the first quarter. Henrickson Nauta Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 3,324 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,407,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total value 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. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of Microsoft 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 owns 50,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,552,000. 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 is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total value of $32,017,386.39. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 864,327 shares in the company, valued at $353,189,942.01. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 190,629 shares of company stock worth $77,916,485 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, October 18th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $495.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Microsoft from $520.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $485.00 to $470.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, DA Davidson cut shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $502.97.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $432.53 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $421.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $424.70. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $334.69 and a 1 year high of $468.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.22 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.62, a PEG ratio of 2.24 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 business had revenue of $64.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.38 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.69 earnings per share. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the software giant to purchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.77%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 28.11%.

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.