Firestone Capital Management Has $3.40 Million Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Firestone Capital Management increased its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 7,611 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 0.9% of Firestone Capital Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Firestone Capital Management’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,402,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Yarger Wealth Strategies LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Yarger Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 4,826 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,157,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the period. Frisch Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. Frisch Financial Group Inc. now owns 23,189 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $10,364,000 after buying an additional 577 shares during the period. Tower Wealth Partners Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 12.1% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 3,004 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,343,000 after buying an additional 324 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 322.7% during the 2nd quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 62,879 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $28,103,000 after buying an additional 48,005 shares during the period. Finally, Hill Island Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Hill Island Financial LLC now owns 7,530 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,366,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $410.37 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $3.05 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.91. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $344.77 and a 12 month high of $468.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $420.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $424.71.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.99 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company 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 $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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 0.81%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 27.39%.

Microsoft declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the software giant to purchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $470.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, October 28th. Bank of America raised their price target 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, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $503.03.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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. 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 is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 50,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,552,000. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total value 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. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 over the last ninety days. Corporate 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.