Dudley Capital Management LLC Buys 122 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Dudley Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 32,967 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 122 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 7.3% of Dudley Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Dudley Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $14,186,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its stake in Microsoft by 169.2% in 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 in the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at about $45,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter worth approximately $75,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 10.1% during the third quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $145,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MayTech Global Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter valued at approximately $200,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. 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 research report on Thursday, October 10th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Mizuho increased their price target on Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $511.62.

Microsoft Price Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $424.56 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.16 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.03, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. 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 12 month low of $371.19 and a 12 month high of $468.35. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $428.65 and its 200-day moving average is $427.59.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.99 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.78%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.39%.

Microsoft announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback 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 management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total value of $414,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 57,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,850,961.92. The trade was a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 value of $10,425,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 117,294 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,911,598. This trade represents a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.