Alternative Investment Advisors LLC. Makes New $4.54 Million Investment in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Alternative Investment Advisors LLC. bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 10,150 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $4,538,000. Microsoft comprises approximately 2.6% of Alternative Investment Advisors LLC.'s portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.6% during the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 1,975,200 shares of the software giant's stock worth $882,816,000 after purchasing an additional 31,401 shares in the last quarter. New Harbor Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 55.9% in the second quarter. New Harbor Financial Group LLC now owns 1,255 shares of the software giant's stock worth $561,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc. increased its stake in Microsoft by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc. now owns 430,730 shares of the software giant's stock worth $192,515,000 after purchasing an additional 8,290 shares in the last quarter. Quest Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 3.4% in the second quarter. Quest Investment Management LLC now owns 156,258 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $69,840,000 after buying an additional 5,176 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 25.7% during the second quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 250,657 shares of the software giant's stock worth $112,031,000 after acquiring an additional 51,273 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total value of $16,103,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 544,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $219,349,953.73. The trade was a 6.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total transaction of $32,017,386.39. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 864,327 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $353,189,942.01. This trade represents a 8.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 197,829 shares of company stock valued at $80,966,837. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $415.00 on Monday. The business's 50-day moving average price is $422.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $426.00. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $362.90 and a 12 month high of $468.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.09 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.24, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.91.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. The firm 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.99 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 12.94 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share 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 repurchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This is a positive change from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.75%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Microsoft from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. 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 research note on Thursday, October 31st. Truist Financial reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price 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.