Bensler LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Bensler LLC raised its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 98,849 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 2,543 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 5.4% of Bensler LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Bensler LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $42,535,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. WFA Asset Management Corp grew its stake in Microsoft by 27.0% in the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant's stock worth $427,000 after buying an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 5.2% in the second quarter. Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,453 shares of the software giant's stock worth $5,119,000 after acquiring an additional 566 shares in the last quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. raised its position in Microsoft by 3.3% during the second quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. now owns 10,266 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $4,586,000 after purchasing an additional 331 shares in the last quarter. First PREMIER Bank lifted its stake in Microsoft by 4.3% during the second quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 23,504 shares of the software giant's stock worth $10,505,000 after purchasing an additional 977 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Corundum Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 8.2% during the 2nd quarter. Corundum Group Inc. now owns 19,092 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $8,533,000 after purchasing an additional 1,447 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MSFT. Citigroup dropped their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note 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 note on Thursday, October 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $511.62.

Microsoft Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT traded down $5.61 during trading on Friday, hitting $418.95. The stock had a trading volume of 20,131,691 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,908,811. 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 Co. has a 12 month low of $380.38 and a 12 month high of $468.35. The company has a market capitalization of $3.11 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.57, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. The firm's fifty day moving average is $428.83 and its 200 day moving average is $427.39.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft's payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

Microsoft announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the software giant to reacquire up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total value of $414,720.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 57,511 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. This represents a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were 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 owns 117,294 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.