Atomi Financial Group Inc. Grows Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Atomi Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 3.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 62,502 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 2,301 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 1.7% of Atomi Financial Group Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position. Atomi Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $26,895,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. WFA Asset Management Corp lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 27.0% during the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant's stock worth $427,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 62.0% in the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 113,168 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $47,612,000 after acquiring an additional 43,327 shares in the last quarter. Main Street Research LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Main Street Research LLC now owns 119,176 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $50,141,000 after acquiring an additional 342 shares in the last quarter. Rockline Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Rockline Wealth Management LLC now owns 47,536 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $19,999,000 after acquiring an additional 1,328 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ESG Planning DBA Harper Investing purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 1st quarter valued at about $409,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total value of $32,017,386.39. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 864,327 shares in the company, valued at $353,189,942.01. The trade was a 8.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $20,552,000. The trade was a 4.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 183,431 shares of company stock valued at $74,956,968 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of MSFT traded up $4.13 on Friday, reaching $417.00. The stock had a trading volume of 24,814,626 shares, compared to its average volume of 23,244,906. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.10 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.30. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $421.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $426.19. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $362.90 and a 12-month high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.99 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the software giant to purchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This is a positive change from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.80%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.39%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on MSFT. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price target on Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $503.03.

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.