EA Series Trust Buys Shares of 114,241 Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

EA Series Trust bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 114,241 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $38,904,000. Microsoft accounts for about 1.4% of EA Series Trust’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Good Life Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC now owns 54,021 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $18,396,000 after acquiring an additional 311 shares during the last quarter. Carr Financial Group Corp raised its holdings in Microsoft by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. Carr Financial Group Corp now owns 10,761 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,665,000 after buying an additional 417 shares during the last quarter. Planning Center Inc. raised its holdings in Microsoft by 24.4% during the 2nd quarter. Planning Center Inc. now owns 4,849 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,651,000 after buying an additional 950 shares during the last quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV raised its holdings in Microsoft by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV now owns 1,518,749 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $437,855,000 after buying an additional 94,563 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC now owns 19,877 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $6,769,000 after buying an additional 229 shares during the last quarter. 69.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Loop Capital assumed coverage on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, October 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $425.00 price target for the company. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $370.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 26th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $345.00 to $400.00 in a report on Friday, July 14th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 26th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $430.00 to $432.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 26th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $384.34.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $356.53 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $328.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $326.95. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $219.35 and a twelve month high of $366.78. The company has a quick ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.65 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.88.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 24th. The software giant reported $2.99 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.65 by $0.34. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.31% and a return on equity of 38.79%. The firm had revenue of $56.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $54.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.35 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 11.11 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 16th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 15th. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 29.04%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 38,234 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $328.43, for a total transaction of $12,557,192.62. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 800,668 shares in the company, valued at approximately $262,963,391.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 26,815 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $327.37, for a total transaction of $8,778,426.55. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 198,373 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,941,369.01. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 38,234 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $328.43, for a total transaction of $12,557,192.62. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 800,668 shares in the company, valued at approximately $262,963,391.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Company 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.