Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Stock Purchased by Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Steel Grove Capital Advisors increased its Microsoft stake by 14.1% in the third quarter, adding 1,267 shares to hold 10,251 shares valued at about $5.26 million.
• Microsoft beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, with revenue rising 18.8% year over year; the company also raised its quarterly dividend from $0.91 to $0.98 per share.
• Analysts give Microsoft a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $609.54. Shares recently traded at $523.88.

Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 14.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 10,251 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 1,267 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 0.3% of Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $5,258,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Montgomery Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Frankly Finances LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Bard Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $37,000. PMV Capital Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Fiduciary Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 37.4% during the 2nd quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. now owns 125 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock traded up $0.88 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $523.88. 26,130,357 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 26,173,096. The business has a 50-day moving average of $519.00 and a 200 day moving average of $441.85. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $349.20 and a fifty-two week high of $559.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.89 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.34, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The software giant reported $4.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.72 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $92.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.62 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 41.17% and a return on equity of 31.28%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 18.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.13 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.91 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 19th will be given a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 19th. This is a boost from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.00%.

Trending Headlines about Microsoft

Investors following MSFT have been watching these headlines:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft reported improving availability and said Outlook email queues were approaching normal levels, easing some immediate concern about the disruption. One analyst reiterated a Buy rating and a $630 price target, citing Azure growth of 48% and expected growth of 49%–50% in fiscal Q2. Microsoft outage recovery update Analyst Buy rating and price target
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft’s latest quarterly results were strong: earnings per share and revenue exceeded estimates, with revenue up 18.8% year over year. That performance supports the longer-term growth case, although recent outage and competition headlines have drawn investor attention. Microsoft earnings and financial data
• Negative Sentiment: Competition is also weighing on sentiment: Anthropic’s new workplace tools threaten Microsoft 365 and Copilot, while Microsoft’s substantial AI infrastructure spending raises questions about returns on investment. Competition concerns around Microsoft

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. TD Cowen increased their price target on Microsoft from $625.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $650.00 price objective (up from $610.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. KeyCorp set a $625.00 target price on Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. Finally, Guggenheim increased their target price on Microsoft from $586.00 to $595.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-six have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $609.54.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Amy Hood sold 7,305 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $544.37, for a total transaction of $3,976,622.85. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 548,091 shares in the company, valued at $298,364,297.67. The trade was a 1.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $531.00, for a total value of $2,655,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 54,412 shares of the company's stock, valued at $28,892,772. This trade represents a 8.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 147,809 shares of company stock valued at $74,769,646. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Profile

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company that develops software, cloud services, devices, and digital solutions for consumers, businesses, and public-sector organizations. Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, the company is headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Its products and services include the Windows operating system, Microsoft 365 productivity applications, Azure cloud computing, LinkedIn, GitHub, Surface devices, and Xbox gaming products and services. Microsoft also provides business software, cybersecurity tools, and artificial intelligence technologies.

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