RFG Advisory LLC Increases Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

RFG Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 50,643 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 832 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 0.7% of RFG Advisory LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. RFG Advisory LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $21,792,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its position in Microsoft by 169.2% during the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter worth $45,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter valued at $75,000. Bellevue Group AG increased its stake in Microsoft by 47.5% in the first quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 180 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 241.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC now owns 379 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $169,000 after buying an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $437.32, for a total value of $874,640.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 51,852 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,675,916.64. The trade was a 3.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total transaction of $3,050,352.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. This represents a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 58,578 shares of company stock worth $24,450,096 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. DA Davidson lowered shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Monday, September 23rd. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $504.36.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $443.57 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $3.30 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $364.13 and a 1 year high of $468.35. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $421.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $427.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.30.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.99 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.39%.

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.