Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Seneca House Advisors’ 3rd Largest Position

Seneca House Advisors lifted its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 29,221 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 96 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 5.3% of Seneca House Advisors’ portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Seneca House Advisors’ holdings in Microsoft were worth $12,574,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. WFA Asset Management Corp increased its position in Microsoft by 27.0% during the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $427,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Microsoft by 62.0% during the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 113,168 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $47,612,000 after buying an additional 43,327 shares during the period. Woodward Diversified Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.7% in the first quarter. Woodward Diversified Capital LLC now owns 21,363 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $8,988,000 after acquiring an additional 359 shares in the last quarter. Violich Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Violich Capital Management Inc. now owns 183,111 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $77,038,000 after acquiring an additional 5,380 shares during the period. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 44.9% during the 1st quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,484 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $624,000 after acquiring an additional 460 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. DA Davidson lowered 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. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $503.03.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total value of $32,017,386.39. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 864,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $353,189,942.01. This represents a 8.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total value of $3,050,352.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. This trade represents a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 197,829 shares of company stock valued at $80,966,837 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $417.79 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $422.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $426.21. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $362.90 and a 1-year high of $468.35. The firm has a market cap of $3.11 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.47, a PEG ratio of 2.20 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 (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.79%. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.39%.

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