Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Position Boosted by Kure Advisory LLC

Kure Advisory LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,728 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 0.7% of Kure Advisory LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Kure Advisory LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $744,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Marathon Strategic Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 14.2% during the 3rd quarter. Marathon Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 1,357 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $584,000 after buying an additional 169 shares during the period. Hurlow Wealth Management Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the third quarter. Hurlow Wealth Management Group Inc. now owns 26,503 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $11,404,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. IMZ Advisory Inc raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 4.6% during the third quarter. IMZ Advisory Inc now owns 5,175 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,153,000 after acquiring an additional 227 shares during the period. Foresight Capital Management Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 3.5% during the third quarter. Foresight Capital Management Advisors Inc. now owns 7,912 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,404,000 after acquiring an additional 264 shares during the period. Finally, Stokes Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Stokes Capital Advisors LLC now owns 37,723 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $16,232,000 after acquiring an additional 805 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 17,378 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.85, for a total value of $7,157,129.30. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 150,161 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $61,843,807.85. The trade was a 10.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total value of $16,103,600.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 544,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $219,349,953.73. The trade was a 6.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 183,431 shares of company stock worth $74,956,968. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT opened at $414.17 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $422.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $426.05. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock has a market cap of $3.08 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.91. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $362.90 and a 12 month high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 the consensus estimate of $64.57 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.99 earnings per share. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 12.94 EPS for the current year.

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

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.80%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.75%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $503.03.

Microsoft Company 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.