Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Affinity Investment Advisors LLC’s 2nd Largest Position

Affinity Investment Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 6.3% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 9,483 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 642 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 2.8% of Affinity Investment Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Affinity Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $4,081,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MSFT. Campbell Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the third quarter valued at approximately $3,314,000. Americana Partners LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Americana Partners LLC now owns 108,353 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $46,624,000 after purchasing an additional 6,633 shares in the last quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 84,200 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $36,231,000 after buying an additional 2,295 shares during the period. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC now owns 36,274 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $15,609,000 after buying an additional 361 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fonville Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 13.2% in the 3rd quarter. Fonville Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,565 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,685,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.8 %

Microsoft stock opened at $421.50 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $428.83 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $428.45. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $366.50 and a 52-week high of $468.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.13 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.78, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.99 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Loop Capital upped their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, October 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $509.90.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total value of $3,050,352.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at $43,792,039.56. This represents a 6.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total value of $10,425,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 117,294 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,911,598. The trade was a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.