High Falls Advisors Inc Sells 541 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

High Falls Advisors Inc lowered its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 6.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,298 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 541 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 0.9% of High Falls Advisors Inc’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. High Falls Advisors Inc’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,709,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of MSFT. Regal Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC now owns 69,693 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $31,149,000 after purchasing an additional 1,380 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter worth $45,000. Invst LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 14.3% in the second quarter. Invst LLC now owns 15,378 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $7,024,000 after buying an additional 1,920 shares in the last quarter. Second Line Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 28.3% in the second quarter. Second Line Capital LLC now owns 14,186 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $6,341,000 after buying an additional 3,132 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wallace Advisory Group LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 6.9% during the 2nd quarter. Wallace Advisory Group LLC now owns 7,574 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,385,000 after buying an additional 492 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $426.89 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $362.90 and a 1 year high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The company has a market capitalization of $3.17 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.91. The business has a 50-day moving average of $421.71 and a two-hundred day moving average of $425.43.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.99 EPS. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.94 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. 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. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.75%.

Microsoft announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the software giant to purchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the subject of several research reports. Oppenheimer cut shares of Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 10th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their target price on Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $503.03.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The stock was 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 directly owns 544,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $219,349,953.73. This trade represents a 6.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the business’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. The trade was a 8.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 197,829 shares of company stock valued at $80,966,837. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.