Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stake Raised by FineMark National Bank & Trust

FineMark National Bank & Trust lifted its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 197,117 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,791 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 3.2% of FineMark National Bank & Trust’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. FineMark National Bank & Trust’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $88,101,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Leibman Financial Services Inc. raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Leibman Financial Services Inc. now owns 9,745 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,100,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. VERITY Wealth Advisors raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. VERITY Wealth Advisors now owns 9,141 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,846,000 after purchasing an additional 312 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 6.2% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 818,261 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $344,259,000 after purchasing an additional 47,704 shares during the last quarter. Madison Park Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Madison Park Capital Advisors LLC now owns 14,215 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,981,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norman Fields Gottscho Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 9.2% during the 1st quarter. Norman Fields Gottscho Capital Management LLC now owns 3,494 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,470,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total value of $1,027,600.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 50,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,552,000. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total transaction of $32,017,386.39. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 864,327 shares in the company, valued at $353,189,942.01. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was 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. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 190,629 shares of company stock worth $77,916,485. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $418.16 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $324.39 and a 52 week high of $468.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.11 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.90. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $419.66 and a two-hundred day moving average of $424.49.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced 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 net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 35.95%. The business had revenue of $64.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.38 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.69 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the software giant to purchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.79%. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.74%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $506.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $495.68.

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.