Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC

Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 9.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 169,174 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 16,958 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 5.1% of Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $75,612,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. New Harbor Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 55.9% in the second quarter. New Harbor Financial Group LLC now owns 1,255 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $561,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the period. True Link Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 296.7% in the 1st quarter. True Link Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,027 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,274,000 after buying an additional 2,264 shares during the last quarter. AMG National Trust Bank grew its holdings in Microsoft by 19.0% in the 2nd quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 81,502 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $36,427,000 after buying an additional 12,994 shares during the period. Spinnaker Investment Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Spinnaker Investment Group LLC now owns 12,521 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,268,000 after acquiring an additional 326 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Leeward Financial Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 15.8% during the 1st quarter. Leeward Financial Partners LLC now owns 35,610 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $14,982,000 after acquiring an additional 4,861 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.8 %

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $428.15 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $326.94 and a 52 week high of $468.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a market cap of $3.18 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.90. The business’s 50 day moving average is $420.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $424.58.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $64.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.38 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 35.95%. The firm’s revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.69 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.02 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to buyback $60.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the software giant to buy up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.78%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 28.74%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 544,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $219,349,953.73. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total transaction of $16,103,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 544,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $219,349,953.73. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total transaction of $1,027,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 50,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,552,000. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. DA Davidson downgraded shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Mizuho increased their target price on Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price target on Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Bank of America raised their price objective on Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twenty-six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $502.97.

Microsoft Company 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.