Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stake Lifted by Weaver Capital Management LLC

Weaver Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 15.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,335 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,235 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 1.2% of Weaver Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Weaver Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $4,017,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Net Worth Advisory Group acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,645,000. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp increased its stake in Microsoft by 1.6% during the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 1,975,200 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $882,816,000 after acquiring an additional 31,401 shares during the period. Jacobs & Co. CA lifted its position in Microsoft by 0.9% in the third quarter. Jacobs & Co. CA now owns 96,021 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $41,318,000 after purchasing an additional 880 shares during the period. New Harbor Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 55.9% during the 2nd quarter. New Harbor Financial Group LLC now owns 1,255 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $561,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 10.9% in the 3rd quarter. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd now owns 106,292 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $45,737,000 after buying an additional 10,421 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $454.46 on Wednesday. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $366.50 and a 1-year high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.38 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.90. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $425.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $428.04.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The business had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.99 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the software giant to purchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.73%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 27.39%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total value of $1,118,525.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 49,352 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,080,578.32. The trade was a 4.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total value of $10,425,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,911,598. The trade was a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Mizuho upped their price objective on Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $470.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $505.43.

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.