M&R Capital Management Inc. Has $12.76 Million Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

M&R Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 29,661 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 742 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 2.8% of M&R Capital Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. M&R Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $12,763,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Microsoft by 0.5% during 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 purchasing an additional 3,078,099 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 83,571,070 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $35,160,020,000 after buying an additional 842,884 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in Microsoft by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 34,511,544 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $15,426,767,000 after buying an additional 97,075 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Microsoft by 6.9% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 24,091,789 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $10,768,771,000 after acquiring an additional 1,563,533 shares during the period. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers lifted its position in Microsoft by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 14,738,956 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $6,587,576,000 after acquiring an additional 45,220 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $415.00 on Monday. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $362.90 and a 1-year high of $468.35. The company has a 50 day moving average of $422.34 and a 200-day moving average of $426.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a market cap of $3.09 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.24, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.91.

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

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 issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. 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. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.75%.

Microsoft declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $60.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the software giant to purchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 18th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $503.03.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 496,369 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $203,784,292.95. The trade was a 7.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total transaction of $32,017,386.39. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 864,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $353,189,942.01. The trade was a 8.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 197,829 shares of company stock worth $80,966,837. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Company 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.