Sanctuary Advisors LLC Invests $361.16 Million in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 888,862 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $361,162,000. Microsoft accounts for approximately 2.6% of Sanctuary Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest position.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in Microsoft in the first quarter worth $5,587,119,000. Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 47,196.6% in the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 4,834,658 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,160,850,000 after purchasing an additional 4,824,436 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 667,987,038 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $281,035,506,000 after purchasing an additional 3,078,099 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 77.6% during the 1st 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 buying an additional 2,744,900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&G Plc bought a new stake in Microsoft in the 1st quarter worth approximately $846,072,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the business’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 value of $16,103,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 544,847 shares in the company, valued at $219,349,953.73. The trade was a 6.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total value of $3,050,352.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. This represents a 6.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 197,829 shares of company stock valued at $80,966,837. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $470.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. TD Cowen lowered their target price on Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twenty-six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $503.03.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $415.00 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $422.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $425.53. The stock has a market cap of $3.09 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $362.90 and a 12 month high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The business had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.99 earnings per share. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 12.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase 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 purchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.80%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 27.39%.

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.