I kicked off August with some new Portfolio transactions.  After a fairly light July with regard to purchases, I’ve already equaled last month’s effort.

Just a couple days into the month and I’ve notched a pair of small buys, with both being existing Portfolio holdings.

One stock first entered my Portfolio in 2020 at the onset of the pandemic.  The other was an add in the latter half of 2021.

The last time I purchased each of these stocks was nearly 1 year ago.

Here are the specifics for each of the two purchases…

 

Microsoft (MSFT)

Hey, look at this… I’m adding in the tech sector!  I can’t say MSFT is undervalued here (it never is), but adding a single share here and there at any price won’t kill me, and at least the position grows.

I established my MSFT position by purchasing 10 shares back in March, 2020.  Since then it’s just been single share additions.  This is my 6th time buying one share.

Each time I bought that one share I felt the stock was overvalued, but those prices now look cheap in comparison to today thanks to the magnificent growth MSFT has shown.

MSFT has been a major contributor to the stock market rally in 2023, too.  There’s excitement surrounding the company’s potential earnings growth tied to their AI strategy.

Earnings were good this past quarter, but management’s financial forecasts put a damper on further price gains.

Still the future looks bright for MSFT, so I’ll continue to slowly build this position as I’ve been doing.

On 8/2/23, I bought 1 share of MSFT at $327.00.  The stock was yielding 0.83% at that price, which is about 2 full percentage points below my current Portfolio average of 2.76%.

My MSFT position grew by 6.5%, and the number of shares I own rose to 16.337 shares.  The purchase raised my cost basis by nearly $10/share, to $180.37/share.

Due to the low yield offered by MSFT, my Portfolio’s annual forward dividend income increased by only $2.72 with the single-share purchase.

MSFT is currently my 40th largest position out of 60 stocks.  It sits fairly far behind Eastman Chemical (EMN) in my value rankings, but it has a narrow lead over Medtronic (MDT).

Expect further small purchases of MSFT from me over time.

 

National Retail Properties (NNN)

Given that NNN is one of my 5 smallest Portfolio positions, and that shares look a little undervalued, I decided it was a good time to add a bit.

I started my NNN position in Sept. 2021.  I bought a couple more times over the course of the next year, averaging down along the way, before selling that initial tranche for a small profit in November of last year.

For this most recent purchase, I didn’t hold out for my preferred price under $40, but I’m OK with that, as this isn’t a large stake.  I can always add more should the price continue to drop.

Forecasts of FFO growth over the near-term are only in the 2%-3% range, but I’m willing to wait for an uptick in FFO while the stock yields in the 5%-6% range.

On 8/2/23, I bought 10 shares of NNN at $40.90, for a total of $409.  The stock was yielding 5.53% at that price, or nearly double my current Portfolio yield.

My NNN position grew almost 19.2% with the purchase.  The number of shares I own climbed to 62.143 shares.

This was not my lowest purchase price for NNN.  That goes to a purchase at $39.15 back in October, 2022.  This purchase raised my cost basis by a mere two pennies, to $40.80/share.

My Portfolio’s annual forward dividend income increased by $22.60 as a result of the purchase.

Real Estate is not one of my bigger Portfolio sectors, so it was good to boost its weighting a bit.

I’ll look to add NNN again below that $40 target I have.  It dropped below that level in the past few days, but I didn’t buy.  I may get another chance.

Even after this purchase, NNN is still my 6th smallest Portfolio position.  It’s sandwiched in between The Walt Disney Co. (DIS) and Cummins (CMI) in my Portfolio rankings.

 

With both MSFT and NNN being existing holdings, the number of stocks in my Portfolio held steady at 60.

 

Summary

I made a pair of purchases early last week to kick off the month of August.  The purchase amounts were small, with both stocks (MSFT & NNN) getting roughly similar investment amounts.

I added 1 share of MSFT and 10 shares of NNN.  With the purchases, my cost basis rose for both stocks, although more significantly with MSFT.

The two buys resulted in a total investment of $736 into my Portfolio.  My forward dividend income correspondingly rose by $25.32 with the two buys.

I’ll remain on the lookout for further price drops with each stock, as I’m willing to continue adding to each position.

 

What stocks have you been buying recently?  Do you have MSFT or NNN in your portfolio?  Please share in the comments!