Auxano Advisors LLC Buys 11,647 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Auxano Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Rating) by 11.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 110,257 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,647 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 12.0% of Auxano Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its biggest holding. Auxano Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $26,442,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Rovin Capital UT ADV increased its position in Microsoft by 1.1% in the third quarter. Rovin Capital UT ADV now owns 3,747 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $873,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Lokken Investment Group LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 0.3% during the second quarter. Lokken Investment Group LLC now owns 11,976 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,076,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Denver Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in Microsoft by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Denver Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,348 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $323,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Daniels&Tansey LLP boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Daniels&Tansey LLP now owns 1,488 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $357,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellspring Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Wellspring Financial Advisors LLC now owns 8,536 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,632,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. 69.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $318.52 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.37 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.93. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $289.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $260.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.91 and a quick ratio of 1.88. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $213.43 and a 12 month high of $319.04.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.22 by $0.23. Microsoft had a net margin of 33.25% and a return on equity of 38.98%. The company had revenue of $52.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $51.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.22 earnings per share. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 9.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.68 per share. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 17th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CMO Christopher C. Capossela sold 5,081 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $312.54, for a total transaction of $1,588,015.74. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 94,328 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,481,273.12. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Microsoft news, CMO Christopher C. Capossela sold 5,081 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $312.54, for a total value of $1,588,015.74. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 94,328 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,481,273.12. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 4,767 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.88, for a total value of $1,186,410.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 788,625 shares in the company, valued at approximately $196,272,990. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 49,848 shares of company stock valued at $15,050,877 over the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Microsoft from $305.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 26th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Microsoft from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 26th. Credit Suisse Group lifted their price target on Microsoft from $285.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Microsoft from $310.00 to $340.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 26th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Microsoft from $290.00 to $348.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and thirty-two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $323.28.

About Microsoft

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Microsoft Corp. engages in the development and support of software, services, devices, and solutions. It operates through the following business segments: Productivity and Business Processes, Intelligent Cloud, and More Personal Computing. The Productivity and Business Processes segment consists of Office Commercial (Office 365 subscriptions, the Office 365 portion of Microsoft 365 Commercial subscriptions, and Office licensed on-premises), Exchange, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, Office 365 Security and Compliance, and Skype for Business, Office Consumer, including Microsoft 365 Consumer subscriptions, Office licensed on-premises, and other Office services, LinkedIn, including Talent Solutions, Marketing Solutions, Premium Subscriptions, Sales Solutions, and Learning Solutions, Dynamics business solutions, including Dynamics 365, comprising a set of intelligent, cloud-based applications across ERP, CRM, Customer Insights, Power Apps, and Power Automate, and on-premises ERP and CRM applications.