St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC Increases Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC raised its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,187 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 553 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 3.6% of St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $7,682,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Rebalance LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 0.7% in the second quarter. Rebalance LLC now owns 3,451 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,542,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Innova Wealth Partners increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Innova Wealth Partners now owns 4,239 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,594,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Arkansas Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Microsoft by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Arkansas Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,719 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $646,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Partnership Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Partnership Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,202 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,609,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Doheny Asset Management CA grew its holdings in Microsoft by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Doheny Asset Management CA now owns 6,397 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,691,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total transaction of $16,103,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 544,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $219,349,953.73. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total transaction of $6,009,869.18. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 786,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total value of $16,103,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 544,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $219,349,953.73. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485 over the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, June 17th. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Microsoft from $465.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $506.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $493.94.

Microsoft Stock Down 2.2 %

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $420.69 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $418.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $425.13. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $311.21 and a 52-week high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.13 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $64.38 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.69 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a $0.83 dividend. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.79%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.74%.

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.