Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. Sells 709 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. cut its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 45,341 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 709 shares during the quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $20,265,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MSFT. Blue Chip Partners LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Chip Partners LLC now owns 97,353 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $43,512,000 after acquiring an additional 3,230 shares during the period. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 39,498 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $17,654,000 after acquiring an additional 1,858 shares during the period. Rowlandmiller & PARTNERS.ADV lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Rowlandmiller & PARTNERS.ADV now owns 51,153 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $22,863,000 after buying an additional 215 shares in the last quarter. Kraft Davis & Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% during the second quarter. Kraft Davis & Associates LLC now owns 5,277 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,242,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 6.0% during the second quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 4,031,145 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,801,720,000 after purchasing an additional 227,475 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. DA Davidson downgraded shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, September 23rd. TD Cowen increased their price target on Microsoft from $470.00 to $495.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. New Street Research started coverage on Microsoft in a research note on Monday, June 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $570.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $493.94.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.1 %

MSFT opened at $416.06 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.27. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $314.90 and a 12 month high of $468.35. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $418.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $425.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.09 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.02, a P/E/G 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 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $64.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.38 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 35.96%. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.69 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a $0.83 dividend. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.74%.

Microsoft announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to buyback $60.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the software giant to repurchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total value of $32,017,386.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 864,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $353,189,942.01. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at $219,349,953.73. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total value of $32,017,386.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 864,327 shares in the company, valued at approximately $353,189,942.01. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Profile

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.