Regal Investment Advisors LLC Buys 1,380 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Regal Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 69,693 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 1,380 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 2.0% of Regal Investment Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Regal Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $31,149,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MSFT. Rebalance LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 0.7% in the second quarter. Rebalance LLC now owns 3,451 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,542,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. First National Bank Sioux Falls lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. First National Bank Sioux Falls now owns 6,340 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,834,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Doheny Asset Management CA lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Doheny Asset Management CA now owns 6,397 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,691,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Flagship Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Flagship Private Wealth LLC now owns 913 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $408,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Wealth Management increased its holdings in Microsoft by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management now owns 9,640 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,309,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.4 %

MSFT stock opened at $426.89 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.17 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.22, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $362.90 and a twelve month high of $468.35. The company’s 50 day moving average is $421.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $425.43.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.99 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 12.94 earnings per share 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 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 yield of 0.78%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 24.75%.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the topic of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Oppenheimer lowered Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 18th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twenty-six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $503.03.

Insider Activity

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 50,000 shares in the company, valued at $20,552,000. This represents a 4.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total transaction of $32,017,386.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 864,327 shares in the company, valued at approximately $353,189,942.01. This trade represents a 8.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 197,829 shares of company stock valued at $80,966,837. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.