Alley Investment Management Company LLC Has $26.91 Million Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Alley Investment Management Company LLC lessened its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 3.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 60,206 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 2,153 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 3.7% of Alley Investment Management Company LLC's holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Alley Investment Management Company LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $26,909,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 169.2% in the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth $75,000. Bellevue Group AG boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 47.5% in the 1st quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 180 shares of the software giant's stock worth $76,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings 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 period. Finally, MayTech Global Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth $200,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT traded up $5.02 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $423.03. 19,382,984 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,435,447. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.15 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.91. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $362.90 and a 52-week high of $468.35. The business's fifty day moving average price is $421.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $425.32. 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 - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $65.59 billion for 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 company earned $2.99 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 12.94 EPS for the current year.

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

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.78%. Microsoft's payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were 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 directly owns 864,327 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $353,189,942.01. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 544,847 shares in the company, valued at $219,349,953.73. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 864,327 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $353,189,942.01. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MSFT. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of 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 reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 18th. KeyCorp increased their price objective 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. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered shares of Microsoft from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently 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.