Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC Acquires 856 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC grew its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 232,665 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 856 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 6.8% of Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $100,116,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its stake in Microsoft by 169.2% during the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $45,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $75,000. Bellevue Group AG raised its stake in Microsoft by 47.5% during the 1st quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 180 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $76,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 241.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC now owns 379 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $169,000 after buying an additional 268 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $422.99 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $421.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $426.42. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $362.90 and a 1-year high of $468.35. The firm has a market cap of $3.14 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 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 (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. Microsoft’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.99 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft announced that its Board of Directors has initiated 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 buy up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.78%. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total transaction of $10,425,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares in the company, valued at $48,911,598. This represents a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 496,369 shares in the company, valued at approximately $203,784,292.95. This represents a 7.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 209,431 shares of company stock worth $85,796,688 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer downgraded Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Citigroup dropped 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. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, DA Davidson lowered Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $503.03.

About Microsoft

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.