19,492 Shares in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Bought by Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD

Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 19,492 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $8,712,000. Microsoft makes up about 3.1% of Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD’s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest position.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Epiq Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 55.6% during the 1st quarter. Epiq Partners LLC now owns 3,124 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,314,000 after acquiring an additional 1,116 shares in the last quarter. Cairn Investment Group Inc. raised its stake in Microsoft by 1.2% during the first quarter. Cairn Investment Group Inc. now owns 3,173 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,335,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Sandbox Financial Partners LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 5.5% during the first quarter. Sandbox Financial Partners LLC now owns 37,305 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $15,695,000 after buying an additional 1,952 shares during the last quarter. Sar Wealth Management Group LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 49.3% during the first quarter. Sar Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 4,271 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,797,000 after buying an additional 1,411 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signet Financial Management LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 4.0% in the first quarter. Signet Financial Management LLC now owns 29,387 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $12,364,000 after purchasing an additional 1,133 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 50,000 shares in the company, valued at $20,552,000. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total value of $6,009,869.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 786,933 shares in the company, valued at $328,473,703.53. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was 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 owns 50,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,552,000. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 190,629 shares of company stock worth $77,916,485 in the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $410.37 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.05 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.27. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $344.77 and a 52 week high of $468.35. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $420.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $424.55.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.08 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 35.73%. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.99 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.02 earnings per share for the current year.

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

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 paid a $0.83 dividend. 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.81%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 24.75%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on MSFT shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $470.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Bank of America lifted 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. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $503.03.

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.