Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Position Raised by Morton Community Bank

Morton Community Bank raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,710 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 514 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 1.9% of Morton Community Bank’s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest position. Morton Community Bank’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $6,575,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 1st quarter valued at $5,587,119,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Microsoft by 0.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 667,987,038 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $281,035,506,000 after acquiring an additional 3,078,099 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its position in Microsoft by 77.6% during the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 6,281,925 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,642,931,000 after purchasing an additional 2,744,900 shares in the last quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft during the first quarter worth about $989,814,000. Finally, M&G Plc purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 1st quarter worth about $846,072,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on MSFT shares. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. DA Davidson cut shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Argus increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $526.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $495.58.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total value of $6,009,869.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 786,933 shares in the company, valued at $328,473,703.53. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total transaction of $6,009,869.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 786,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $328,473,703.53. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $219,349,953.73. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 190,629 shares of company stock worth $77,916,485. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.7 %

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $424.60 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $420.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $424.56. The stock has a market cap of $3.16 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $326.94 and a 12 month high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.05. Microsoft had a return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 35.96%. The business had revenue of $64.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.38 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.69 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.02 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This is an increase 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 0.78%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 28.74%.

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

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.