Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Bought by Perennial Advisors LLC

Perennial Advisors LLC grew its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 8.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 76,301 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 5,698 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 6.6% of Perennial Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Perennial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $25,984,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. DGS Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 19.9% in the 1st quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 14,342 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,422,000 after acquiring an additional 2,383 shares in the last quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd lifted its position in Microsoft by 20.8% in the 1st quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 1,138,469 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $351,001,000 after acquiring an additional 196,338 shares in the last quarter. Altus Wealth Group LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Altus Wealth Group LLC now owns 12,712 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,919,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Powell Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 16.2% in the 1st quarter. Powell Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,578 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $795,000 after acquiring an additional 359 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 8.2% in the 1st quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC now owns 6,782 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,921,000 after acquiring an additional 512 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the topic of several research reports. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $370.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 26th. Wedbush boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 26th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $410.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 14th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $398.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 20th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $385.11.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $369.85 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $336.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $331.77. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $219.35 and a 12-month high of $376.35. The firm has a market cap of $2.75 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.80, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a quick ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 24th. The software giant reported $2.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.65 by $0.34. The firm had revenue of $56.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $54.52 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.31% and a return on equity of 38.79%. The business’s revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.35 EPS. Equities research analysts predict 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. Investors of record on Thursday, November 16th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 15th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.81%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 38,234 shares of the 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 26,815 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $327.37, for a total value 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 38,234 shares of the 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 completion of 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 currently owned by company 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.