Prospect Financial Services LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Prospect Financial Services LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 48.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,395 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 3,050 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 2.5% of Prospect Financial Services LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. Prospect Financial Services LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $4,043,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its position in Microsoft by 169.2% in the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. Quarry LP bought a new position in Microsoft in the second quarter worth $45,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in Microsoft in the second quarter worth $75,000. Bellevue Group AG lifted its position in Microsoft by 47.5% in the first quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 180 shares of the software giant's stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 241.4% in the second quarter. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC now owns 379 shares of the software giant's stock worth $169,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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 stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $219,349,953.73. The trade was a 6.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 50,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,552,000. The trade was a 4.76 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 96,578 shares of company stock worth $39,679,056. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on MSFT shares. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. UBS Group cut their price objective on Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Truist Financial restated a "buy" rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, October 28th. Citigroup cut their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, TD Cowen cut their target price on Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $503.03.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ MSFT traded up $5.20 on Thursday, reaching $442.62. 21,589,141 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,544,082. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $364.13 and a one year high of $468.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.29 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.16, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.90. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $420.93 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $426.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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 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 period last year, the company earned $2.99 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the software giant to buy up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.75%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

About Microsoft

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.