Foster & Motley Inc. Reduces Microsoft Holdings

Foster & Motley Inc. has reduced its investment in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.6% during the second quarter, as revealed in their latest filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm now holds 58,931 shares of the tech giant after selling 966 shares during this period. Microsoft represents 1.8% of Foster & Motley's overall investment portfolio, marking it as their 10th largest position. As of the latest report, the value of Foster & Motley's Microsoft holdings is approximately $26,339,000.

Besides Foster & Motley, several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also altered their positions regarding Microsoft shares. For instance, Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc. boosted its holdings by a remarkable 169.2% in the second quarter, acquiring 70 shares valued at $31,000 after adding 44 shares. Similarly, Richardson Capital Management LLC increased its stake by 1,290.0% in the first quarter, now owning 139 shares worth $59,000 following the purchase of an additional 129 shares. Innealta Capital LLC entered a new position in Microsoft during the second quarter, estimated at around $75,000. Bellevue Group AG raised its stake by 47.5% in the first quarter, owning 180 shares valued at $76,000 after acquiring 58 additional shares. Lastly, Horizon Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake valued at nearly $80,000. Overall, institutional investors and hedge funds collectively hold approximately 71.13% of Microsoft’s stock.

Analyst Updates

Several equity analysts have recently provided updates on Microsoft’s stock. Wedbush maintained an “underperform” rating, while Citigroup reduced their target price for Microsoft from $520 to $500, also assigning a “buy” rating. Oppenheimer downgraded Microsoft from an “outperform” to a “market perform” rating. Conversely, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating with a target price of $500. KeyCorp increased its target price from $490 to $505, rating it as “overweight.” Currently, one analyst has given a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, and twenty-eight have recommended a buy, leading to a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $495.68, according to MarketBeat data.

Insider Transactions

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 Microsoft shares on September 9 at an average price of $402.59, totaling about $16,103,600. After this transaction, he retains 544,847 shares valued at approximately $219,349,953.73. CEO Satya Nadella also sold 78,353 shares on September 4 for an average price of $408.63, amassing about $32,017,386.39 from the sale. Following this transaction, he holds 864,327 shares worth an estimated $353,189,942. In total, insiders have sold 190,629 shares valued at $77,916,485 in the past 90 days. Currently, company insiders own just 0.03% of Microsoft's stock.

Stock Performance

Microsoft's shares opened at $418.16 on the last trading day. The company reports a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.27, and a current ratio of 1.27. Microsoft’s stock has fluctuated between a 52-week low of $324.39 and a high of $468.35, boasting a market capitalization of $3.11 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22, and a beta of 0.90. The fifty-day moving average stands at $419.66, with a 200-day moving average of $424.49.

Microsoft last reported its earnings results on July 30, showcasing earnings per share (EPS) of $2.95, surpassing analysts’ expectations of $2.90 by $0.05. The company achieved a return on equity of 35.95% with a net margin of 35.96%, generating $64.73 billion in revenue against projected estimates of $64.38 billion. Compared to the same quarter in the previous year, revenue increased by 15.2%.

Dividend and Buyback Program

Recently, Microsoft declared a quarterly dividend of $0.83, set to be paid on December 12, with a record date of November 21. This new dividend represents an annualized figure of $3.32, yielding 0.79%, up from the previous dividend of $0.75. The company maintains a payout ratio of 28.74%.

Furthermore, Microsoft’s Board of Directors approved a significant share buyback program worth $60 billion on September 16. This initiative allows the company to repurchase up to 1.9% of its outstanding shares, typically signifying that the management views the stock as undervalued.

Company Overview

Microsoft Corporation is a global leader in developing software, services, devices, and solutions. Their Productivity and Business Processes segment includes offerings such as Office, Microsoft Teams, Office 365, and various consumer services.

Microsoft, Stock, Investments