USA Financial Formulas Has $167,000 Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

USA Financial Formulas lessened its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 86.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 388 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 2,513 shares during the quarter. USA Financial Formulas’ holdings in Microsoft were worth $167,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its holdings in Microsoft by 169.2% in the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new stake in Microsoft in the second quarter worth approximately $45,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth $75,000. Bellevue Group AG raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 47.5% during the 1st quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 180 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 241.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC now owns 379 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $169,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on MSFT shares. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. TD Cowen cut their price objective on Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. DA Davidson cut Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $470.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $503.03.

Insider Activity

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total value of $414,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 57,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. This represents a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total value of $32,017,386.39. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 864,327 shares in the company, valued at approximately $353,189,942.01. This trade represents a 8.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 209,431 shares of company stock valued at $85,796,688 in the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Price Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $418.79 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $421.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $426.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock has a market cap of $3.11 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.91. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $362.90 and a 12-month high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.99 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This is a boost 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 dividend yield of 0.79%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 27.39%.

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

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.