Balanced Wealth Group LLC Has $974,000 Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Balanced Wealth Group LLC trimmed its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 10.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,134 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 256 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 0.2% of Balanced Wealth Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Balanced Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $974,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at $75,000. Bellevue Group AG raised its position in 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 last quarter. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 241.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC now owns 379 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $169,000 after buying an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MayTech Global Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at $200,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on MSFT. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price target on Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Oppenheimer lowered Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Mizuho increased their price target on Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their target price on Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $503.03.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $410.55, for a total transaction of $15,600,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 496,369 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $203,784,292.95. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total value of $1,027,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 50,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,552,000. 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 the SEC website. Also, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $410.55, for a total value of $15,600,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 496,369 shares in the company, valued at $203,784,292.95. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 190,629 shares of company stock worth $77,916,485. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.2 %

MSFT stock opened at $425.43 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $360.36 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $420.74 and a 200-day moving average of $424.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.30. The company has a market capitalization of $3.16 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.10, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.91.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The business had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.99 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.39%.

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

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.