Rovin Capital UT ADV Buys 1,700 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Rovin Capital UT ADV lifted its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 43.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,620 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,700 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 0.9% of Rovin Capital UT ADV’s holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Rovin Capital UT ADV’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,418,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Microsoft by 6.6% during the third quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. now owns 26,131 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $11,244,000 after buying an additional 1,623 shares during the last quarter. Crumly & Associates Inc. raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 13.8% in the third quarter. Crumly & Associates Inc. now owns 4,624 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,990,000 after acquiring an additional 562 shares during the last quarter. United Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 18,378 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $7,908,000 after acquiring an additional 730 shares in the last quarter. Windward Capital Management Co. CA grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 8.3% during the third quarter. Windward Capital Management Co. CA now owns 31,394 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $13,509,000 after purchasing an additional 2,411 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Provident Trust Co. grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 8.4% during the third quarter. Provident Trust Co. now owns 8,994 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,870,000 after purchasing an additional 696 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $418.95 on Friday. 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 firm has a market cap of $3.11 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $428.83 and its 200-day moving average is $427.39. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $380.38 and a one year high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.99 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 27.39%.

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the software giant to reacquire up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. TD Cowen decreased their price target 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. KeyCorp boosted their price objective 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. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $525.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $511.62.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total transaction of $1,118,525.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 49,352 shares in the company, valued at $22,080,578.32. The trade was a 4.82 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total transaction of $10,425,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 quarter, insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.