Bowling Portfolio Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Rating) by 7.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 98,220 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,485 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 6.4% of Bowling Portfolio Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Bowling Portfolio Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $25,226,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MSFT. Advisory Resource Group boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 5.7% during the second quarter. Advisory Resource Group now owns 7,334 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,883,000 after purchasing an additional 395 shares during the period. Davis Rea LTD. boosted its position in Microsoft by 141.6% during the 2nd quarter. Davis Rea LTD. now owns 61,814 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $15,876,000 after buying an additional 36,226 shares during the period. Charter Oak Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth $2,360,000. Investors Research Corp increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.4% in the second quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 12,973 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,332,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the period. Finally, PBMares Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 3.6% during the second quarter. PBMares Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,003 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,826,000 after purchasing an additional 387 shares during the period. 69.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MSFT. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Microsoft from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 27th. Rosenblatt Securities decreased their target price on Microsoft from $349.00 to $330.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 26th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $320.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 27th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $330.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $350.00 to $315.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $325.89.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other news, CMO Christopher C. Capossela sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.25, for a total value of $1,331,250.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 109,837 shares in the company, valued at $29,244,101.25. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.05% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
Microsoft Price Performance
Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $237.53 on Tuesday. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $219.13 and a twelve month high of $349.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.77 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $256.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $265.09.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 26th. The software giant reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.28 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $51.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $52.31 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 43.31% and a net margin of 36.69%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.17 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 10.08 EPS for the current year.
Microsoft Increases Dividend
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.68 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 16th. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.15%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 25.73%.
About Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation develops, licenses, and supports software, services, devices, and solutions worldwide. The company operates in three segments: Productivity and Business Processes, Intelligent Cloud, and More Personal Computing. The Productivity and Business Processes segment offers Office, Exchange, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, Office 365 Security and Compliance, Microsoft Viva, and Skype for Business; Skype, Outlook.com, OneDrive, and LinkedIn; and Dynamics 365, a set of cloud-based and on-premises business solutions for organizations and enterprise divisions.
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