Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Acquired by Verdence Capital Advisors LLC

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 81,329 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 487 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 3.2% of Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $36,350,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 667,987,038 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $281,035,506,000 after purchasing an additional 3,078,099 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,920,047,000. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in Microsoft by 1.0% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 83,571,070 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $35,160,020,000 after buying an additional 842,884 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 25,381,692 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,544,532,000 after purchasing an additional 403,409 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB raised its stake in Microsoft by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 13,640,068 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $6,096,428,000 after acquiring an additional 360,171 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $430.30 on Tuesday. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $311.21 and a 1-year high of $468.35. The stock has a market cap of $3.20 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.26, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $419.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of $425.10.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.05. Microsoft had a return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 35.96%. The firm had revenue of $64.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.38 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.69 EPS. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 28.74%.

Microsoft announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the software giant to reacquire up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on MSFT shares. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $495.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Argus lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $475.00 to $526.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $506.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Microsoft from $465.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $493.94.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total transaction of $1,027,600.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 50,000 shares in the company, valued at $20,552,000. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total transaction of $6,009,869.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 786,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total value of $1,027,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 50,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,552,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 190,629 shares of company stock worth $77,916,485 over the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation develops and supports software, services, devices and solutions worldwide. The Productivity and Business Processes segment offers office, exchange, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, office 365 Security and Compliance, Microsoft viva, and Microsoft 365 copilot; and office consumer services, such as Microsoft 365 consumer subscriptions, Office licensed on-premises, and other office services.