Main Street Group LTD Has $11.14 Million Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Main Street Group LTD reduced its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,391 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 373 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 4.6% of Main Street Group LTD’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Main Street Group LTD’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $11,140,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.8% in the first quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 282,295 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $118,766,000 after buying an additional 5,044 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital increased its holdings in Microsoft by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 80,247 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $34,208,000 after acquiring an additional 3,902 shares during the period. Bank of New Hampshire lifted its stake in Microsoft by 15.5% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New Hampshire now owns 36,567 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $15,384,000 after purchasing an additional 4,913 shares in the last quarter. Grassi Investment Management boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Grassi Investment Management now owns 162,755 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $68,474,000 after purchasing an additional 1,416 shares during the period. Finally, Grandview Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Grandview Asset Management LLC now owns 39,246 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $16,512,000 after purchasing an additional 312 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $495.68.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $418.78 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $419.90 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $424.55. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $324.39 and a 12-month high of $468.35. The firm has a market cap of $3.11 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.90. 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 (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $64.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.38 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.69 earnings per share. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.02 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.79%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 28.74%.

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

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related 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 sale, the insider now owns 544,847 shares in the company, valued at $219,349,953.73. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of Microsoft 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 544,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $219,349,953.73. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 17,378 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.85, for a total value of $7,157,129.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 150,161 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $61,843,807.85. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 190,629 shares of company stock worth $77,916,485 over the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.