Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Purchased by Greater Midwest Financial Group LLC

Greater Midwest Financial Group LLC grew its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 34,941 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 6.3% of Greater Midwest Financial Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Greater Midwest Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $14,566,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. WFA Asset Management Corp increased its stake in Microsoft by 27.0% during the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $427,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 62.0% in the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 113,168 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $47,612,000 after buying an additional 43,327 shares during the period. Union Savings Bank increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% during the first quarter. Union Savings Bank now owns 17,769 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $7,476,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Planning LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 29.6% during the first quarter. Fiduciary Planning LLC now owns 7,187 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,024,000 after acquiring an additional 1,640 shares during the period. Finally, Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. lifted its position in Microsoft by 182.0% in the 1st quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. now owns 1,351,311 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $568,524,000 after acquiring an additional 872,200 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Trading Down 2.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $415.00 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.09 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $362.90 and a 12-month high of $468.35. The business has a 50 day moving average of $422.34 and a 200-day moving average of $425.53.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The firm had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.99 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.80%. This is an increase 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 approved a stock repurchase plan on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the software giant to purchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the subject of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 18th. UBS Group reduced their price target on Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their target price on shares of Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. One equities 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $503.03.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total transaction of $16,103,600.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 544,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $219,349,953.73. This represents a 6.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total value of $1,027,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 50,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,552,000. This represents a 4.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 197,829 shares of company stock worth $80,966,837 in the last quarter. Corporate 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.