The position of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) was upgraded by Five Oceans Advisors

Five Oceans Advisors grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report) by 19.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 12,750 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,033 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 3.0% of Five Oceans Advisors’ portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. Five Oceans Advisors’ holdings in Microsoft were worth $5,699,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Friedenthal Financial acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $45,000. Richardson Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1,290.0% in the first quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at $58,000. Bellevue Group AG boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 47.5% in the first quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 180 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $76,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 23.7% during the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 188 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the shares are held by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider buying and selling

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total transaction of $6,009,869.18. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 786,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available via this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total value of $6,009,869.18. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 786,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total value of $101,389.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 47,011 shares in the company, valued at $19,534,480.83. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.03% of shares are held by corporate insiders.

Microsoft pricing performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $413.12 on Friday. Microsoft Co. it has a 52-week low of $309.45 and a 52-week high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.23, and a current ratio of 1.27. The firm has a market cap of $3.07 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.90. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $432.99 and a 200-day moving average price of $422.74.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.05. Microsoft had a return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 35.96%. The firm had revenue of $64.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.38 billion. In the same period last year, the company earned $2.69 EPS. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft dividend announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a dividend of $3.00 on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.97%.

Analysts on Wall Street are forecasting an increase

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Tigress Financial upped their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 13th. Argus upped their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $526.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Microsoft from $465.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Microsoft from $470.00 to $495.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have given a buy rating to the company. Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $494.72, according to MarketBeat.com.

See our latest report on MSFT

Microsoft profile

(Free report)

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 on-premises licensing, and other office services.

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