Financial Advisors LLC Grows Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,597 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 1.7% of Financial Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $7,014,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. RFP Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 528.9% in the second quarter. RFP Financial Group LLC now owns 20,413 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $6,944,000 after acquiring an additional 17,167 shares during the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 3.7% in the second quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 151,826 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $51,703,000 after acquiring an additional 5,453 shares during the last quarter. FUKOKU MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE Co boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.3% in the second quarter. FUKOKU MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE Co now owns 162,212 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $55,240,000 after acquiring an additional 407 shares during the last quarter. Motive Wealth Advisors boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 2.6% in the second quarter. Motive Wealth Advisors now owns 5,372 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,829,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Safeguard Investment Advisory Group LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.9% in the second quarter. Safeguard Investment Advisory Group LLC now owns 7,697 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,622,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. 69.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

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

Microsoft Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $369.85 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.75 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 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 $331.77. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $219.35 and a 1 year 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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.65 by $0.34. The firm had revenue of $56.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $54.52 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 38.79% and a net margin of 35.31%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.35 EPS. Analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 11.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on MSFT. HSBC upgraded Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $347.00 to $413.00 in a report on Thursday, October 26th. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $415.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, October 16th. Wedbush boosted their price target on Microsoft from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price target on Microsoft from $370.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 26th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Microsoft from $430.00 to $432.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $385.11.

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.