Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Bought by Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 746,423 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 471 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 3.5% of Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $333,614,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. New Harbor Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 55.9% during the second quarter. New Harbor Financial Group LLC now owns 1,255 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $561,000 after buying an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. True Link Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 296.7% during the first quarter. True Link Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,027 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,274,000 after buying an additional 2,264 shares in the last quarter. AMG National Trust Bank grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 19.0% during the second quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 81,502 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $36,427,000 after buying an additional 12,994 shares in the last quarter. Spinnaker Investment Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.7% in the first quarter. Spinnaker Investment Group LLC now owns 12,521 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,268,000 after purchasing an additional 326 shares during the period. Finally, Leeward Financial Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 15.8% in the first quarter. Leeward Financial Partners LLC now owns 35,610 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $14,982,000 after purchasing an additional 4,861 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Argus upped their price objective 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, TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $495.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $502.97.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

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 shares were sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total value of $6,009,869.18. Following the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through 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 value of $6,009,869.18. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 786,933 shares in the company, valued at $328,473,703.53. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $410.55, for a total transaction of $15,600,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 496,369 shares in the company, valued at $203,784,292.95. This 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 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $426.59 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $420.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $424.58. The stock has a market cap of $3.17 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $331.83 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35. 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 issued its earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $64.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.38 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 35.95%. The firm’s revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.69 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.78%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.40%.

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the software giant to repurchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.