Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Purchased by Harmony Asset Management LLC

Harmony Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 9.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 25,980 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 2,297 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 4.9% of Harmony Asset Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Harmony Asset Management LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $11,612,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Altshuler Shaham Ltd raised its position in Microsoft by 9.8% in the 2nd quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 1,230,538 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $549,989,000 after purchasing an additional 109,718 shares in the last quarter. Certified Advisory Corp increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 9.2% during the second quarter. Certified Advisory Corp now owns 13,899 shares of the software giant's stock worth $6,212,000 after buying an additional 1,175 shares during the period. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 2.1% in the second quarter. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC now owns 19,968 shares of the software giant's stock worth $9,310,000 after acquiring an additional 412 shares during the last quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 59.5% during the 2nd quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,368 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,846,000 after acquiring an additional 2,375 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Edge Capital Group LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Edge Capital Group LLC now owns 80,026 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $35,768,000 after purchasing an additional 956 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on MSFT shares. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Truist Financial reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, October 28th. Wedbush reissued an "underperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $503.03.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT traded down $2.89 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $422.54. The company's stock had a trading volume of 16,891,414 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,265,076. The firm has a market cap of $3.14 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.91. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $421.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $425.07. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $360.36 and a 1 year high of $468.35. 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 - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The business had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.99 EPS. The company's revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 12.94 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company 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 $0.83 dividend. This is a positive change from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.75%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total value of $1,027,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 50,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,552,000. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total transaction of $1,027,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 50,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,552,000. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 17,378 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.85, for a total transaction of $7,157,129.30. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 150,161 shares of the company's stock, valued at $61,843,807.85. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. 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. Company 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.