Aptus Capital Advisors LLC increases its stock holding in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)
Aptus Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in the shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ: MSFT – Get a rating) by 30.9% in the first quarter, according to its latest filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company held 201,621 shares of the software giant after acquiring an additional 47,647 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 1.5% of Aptus Capital Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th-largest position. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $62,161,000 when it last filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Other large investors have also changed their stake in the company. Joseph Group Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter at a value of $1,535,000. Shore Point Advisors LLC bought a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $40,000. Tobam increased its stake in Microsoft by 15,400.0% in the first quarter. Tobam now owns 155 shares of the software giant valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Artemis Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Microsoft in the first quarter worth $68,000. Finally, Evolution Advisers Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $84,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors hold 69.99% of the company’s shares.
Microsoft Price Performance
MSFT action opened at $276.44 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $268.17 and a 200-day moving average of $278.73. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month minimum of $241.51 and a 12 month maximum of $349.67. The company has a current ratio of 1.78, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt ratio of 0.28. The company has a market capitalization of $2.06 trillion, a price/earnings ratio of 28.68, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.93.
Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT – Get a rating) last released its quarterly results on Tuesday, July 26. The software giant reported earnings per share (EPS) of $2.23 for the quarter, missing consensus analyst estimates of $2.29 per ($0.06). Microsoft had a net margin of 36.69% and a return on equity of 43.31%. In the same quarter last year, the company achieved EPS of $2.17. As a group, stock analysts expect Microsoft Co. to post EPS of 10.14 for the current fiscal year.
Microsoft announces dividend
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 8. Shareholders of record on Thursday August 18 will receive a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 17. This represents a dividend of $2.48 on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.90%. Microsoft’s payout rate is 25.73%.
Analyst upgrades and downgrades
Several stock analysts have recently commented on the company. Guggenheim assumed coverage from Microsoft in a Friday, August 12 report. They issued a “neutral” rating and a target price of $292.00 on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lowered his price target on Microsoft from $320.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a Wednesday, July 27 report. Mizuho lowered its target price on Microsoft from $350.00 to $340.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a Tuesday, July 19 report. Barclays lowered its price target on Microsoft from $363.00 to $335.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a Friday, June 10 report. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered its price target on Microsoft from $370.00 to $330.00 and placed an “in-line” rating on the stock in a Wednesday, April 27 report. Two analysts gave the stock a hold rating and thirty-one gave the stock a buy rating. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $334.31.
About Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation develops, licenses, and supports software, services, devices, and solutions worldwide. The company operates in three segments: Productivity and Business Process, 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 business divisions.
Featured Articles
Want to see which other hedge funds hold MSFT? Visit HoldingsChannel.com for the latest 13F filings and insider trading for Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ: MSFT – Get a rating).
Get news and reviews for Microsoft Daily – Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of breaking news and analyst ratings for Microsoft and related companies with MarketBeat.com’s free daily email newsletter.
Comments are closed.