Breakwater Capital Group Purchases 663 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Breakwater Capital Group increased its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.7% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 18,390 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 663 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 1.9% of Breakwater Capital Group’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Breakwater Capital Group’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $8,219,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Tenon Financial LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Tenon Financial LLC now owns 3,670 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,640,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the period. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc now owns 58,972 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $26,358,000 after purchasing an additional 1,626 shares during the last quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 12.1% during the second quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 3,575 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,598,000 after purchasing an additional 385 shares during the period. Pullen Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 0.4% in the second quarter. Pullen Investment Management LLC now owns 9,667 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,321,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ABLE Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 1.0% in the second quarter. ABLE Financial Group LLC now owns 13,951 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $6,235,000 after buying an additional 141 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup decreased their target price on Microsoft from $520.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, June 17th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $520.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on Microsoft from $470.00 to $495.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $493.94.

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $416.54 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $418.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $425.01. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $314.00 and a 1-year high of $468.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.10 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.05. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 35.95%. The company had revenue of $64.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.38 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.69 EPS. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.80%. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.74%.

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

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total value of $16,103,600.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 544,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $219,349,953.73. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total value of $6,009,869.18. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 786,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the 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 directly owns 544,847 shares in the company, valued at $219,349,953.73. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 190,629 shares of company stock worth $77,916,485. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.