Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Purchased by Hoge Financial Services LLC

Hoge Financial Services LLC raised its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 35.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,317 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 860 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 1.2% of Hoge Financial Services LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Hoge Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,482,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. New Harbor Financial Group LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 55.9% during the second quarter. New Harbor Financial Group LLC now owns 1,255 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $561,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the period. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 25.7% in the 2nd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 250,657 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $112,031,000 after purchasing an additional 51,273 shares in the last quarter. AMG National Trust Bank grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 19.0% during the 2nd quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 81,502 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $36,427,000 after purchasing an additional 12,994 shares during the period. True Link Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 296.7% during the 1st quarter. True Link Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,027 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,274,000 after purchasing an additional 2,264 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Spinnaker Investment Group LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 2.7% in the first quarter. Spinnaker Investment Group LLC now owns 12,521 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,268,000 after buying an additional 326 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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 sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 50,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,552,000. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 190,629 shares of company stock worth $77,916,485 in the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $432.53 on Thursday. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $334.69 and a 1-year high of $468.35. The company’s fifty day moving average is $421.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $424.70. 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 $3.22 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $64.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.38 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 35.95%. Microsoft’s revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.69 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.02 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the software giant to repurchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 is an increase 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 0.77%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.11%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on MSFT shares. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. KeyCorp raised their price objective on Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. DA Davidson downgraded 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, Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Microsoft from $485.00 to $470.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twenty-six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $502.97.

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.