Amara Financial LLC. Buys New Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Amara Financial LLC. purchased a new position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 764 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $329,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. WFA Asset Management Corp boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 27.0% during the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $427,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the period. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. grew its position in Microsoft by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,658,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Nicholas Investment Partners LP increased its stake in Microsoft by 3.0% in the second quarter. Nicholas Investment Partners LP now owns 39,743 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $17,763,000 after purchasing an additional 1,164 shares during the period. Sather Financial Group Inc lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 3.5% during the second quarter. Sather Financial Group Inc now owns 255,923 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $114,385,000 after purchasing an additional 8,642 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Secure Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 33.6% during the second quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 22,506 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $10,059,000 after purchasing an additional 5,664 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $444.06 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $385.58 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35. The company has a market cap of $3.30 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.30. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $430.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $425.69.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its 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. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. Microsoft’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.99 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 12.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.75%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday. Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on Microsoft in a report on Friday, January 17th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $509.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $512.66.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total value of $414,720.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 57,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,850,961.92. This represents a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,911,598. This trade represents a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by 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.