Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Skyline Advisors Inc.’s 2nd Largest Position

Skyline Advisors Inc. trimmed its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 48,975 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 418 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 9.5% of Skyline Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Skyline Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $21,889,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Microsoft by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 664,908,939 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $250,032,357,000 after purchasing an additional 15,701,937 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the first quarter worth about $5,587,119,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 77.6% in the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 6,281,925 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,642,931,000 after buying an additional 2,744,900 shares during the period. Global Assets Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the first quarter valued at about $989,814,000. Finally, M&G Plc purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 1st quarter valued at about $846,072,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $414.71 on Wednesday. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $323.18 and a 12 month high of $468.35. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $417.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $424.89. The company has a market cap of $3.08 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.91, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.90.

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

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

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm 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 represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.80%. 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 is 28.74%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total value of $16,103,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 544,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $219,349,953.73. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total transaction 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 864,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 worth $77,916,485 in the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MSFT. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $520.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Mizuho lifted their target price on Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on Microsoft from $520.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $493.94.

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.