Advisory Alpha LLC Increases Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Advisory Alpha LLC grew its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 16.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 26,048 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,773 shares during the period. Advisory Alpha LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $11,643,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. IMS Capital Management lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% during the second quarter. IMS Capital Management now owns 22,222 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $9,440,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. Regency Capital Management Inc. DE boosted its position in Microsoft by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Regency Capital Management Inc. DE now owns 15,282 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $6,830,000 after buying an additional 205 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 9,269 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,097,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the period. Old North State Trust LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.6% in the second quarter. Old North State Trust LLC now owns 12,381 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,534,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HWG Holdings LP purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter worth $23,814,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Down 2.8 %

Microsoft stock opened at $415.00 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $422.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $425.44. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $362.90 and a twelve month high of $468.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.09 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.24, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.99 EPS. Microsoft’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 12.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to buyback $60.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the software giant to purchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on MSFT shares. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price target on Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. DA Davidson downgraded shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twenty-six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $503.03.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total transaction of $3,050,352.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,792,039.56. This represents a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total transaction of $6,009,869.18. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 786,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $328,473,703.53. This trade represents a 1.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 197,829 shares of company stock worth $80,966,837. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

About Microsoft

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.