Stonebridge Capital Management Inc. Has $22.59 Million Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Stonebridge Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 8.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 52,494 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,257 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 9.0% of Stonebridge Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Stonebridge Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $22,588,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its stake in Microsoft by 169.2% in the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new position in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth about $45,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth $75,000. Bellevue Group AG increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 47.5% during the 1st quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 180 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 241.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC now owns 379 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $169,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $414.17 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $422.21 and its 200-day moving average is $426.05. The company has a market cap of $3.08 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.17, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.30. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $362.90 and a 52-week high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. Microsoft’s revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.99 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given 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 dividend yield of 0.80%. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 24.75%.

Microsoft declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to buyback $60.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the software giant to repurchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MSFT. Wells Fargo & Company restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Oppenheimer downgraded Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $470.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $503.03.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, 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 directly owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. This trade represents a 6.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 864,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $353,189,942.01. This represents a 8.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 183,431 shares of company stock worth $74,956,968 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.