Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. Buys 2,714 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. raised its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 269,934 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 2,714 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 3.5% of Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $91,923,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Good Life Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.6% during the second quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC now owns 54,021 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $18,396,000 after buying an additional 311 shares in the last quarter. Carr Financial Group Corp grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 4.0% during the second quarter. Carr Financial Group Corp now owns 10,761 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,665,000 after buying an additional 417 shares in the last quarter. Planning Center Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 24.4% during the second quarter. Planning Center Inc. now owns 4,849 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,651,000 after buying an additional 950 shares in the last quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 6.6% during the first quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV now owns 1,518,749 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $437,855,000 after buying an additional 94,563 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.2% during the second quarter. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC now owns 19,877 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $6,769,000 after buying an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Barclays increased their price objective on Microsoft from $410.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $400.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, October 2nd. HSBC upgraded Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $347.00 to $413.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 26th. Argus raised their price target on Microsoft from $371.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Microsoft from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 25th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $385.11.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 38,234 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 800,668 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $262,963,391.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 26,815 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $327.37, for a total transaction of $8,778,426.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 198,373 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,941,369.01. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 38,234 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $328.43, for a total value of $12,557,192.62. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 800,668 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $262,963,391.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $369.85 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.75 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.64. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $336.17 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $331.59. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $219.35 and a fifty-two week high of $376.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 24th. The software giant reported $2.99 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.65 by $0.34. The firm had revenue of $56.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $54.52 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 38.79% and a net margin of 35.31%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.35 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 11.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 15th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.81%. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 29.04%.

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.