Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Versant Capital Management Inc’s 7th Largest Position

Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 32,471 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,068 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 3.2% of Versant Capital Management Inc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Versant Capital Management Inc’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $13,972,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Pacifica Partners Inc. increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 25,626 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $11,027,000 after acquiring an additional 627 shares in the last quarter. Bath Savings Trust Co increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. Bath Savings Trust Co now owns 98,673 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $42,459,000 after acquiring an additional 5,279 shares in the last quarter. Stonebridge Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 8.8% in the 3rd quarter. Stonebridge Capital Management Inc. now owns 52,494 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $22,588,000 after acquiring an additional 4,257 shares in the last quarter. Greenfield Savings Bank increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Greenfield Savings Bank now owns 27,394 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $11,788,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Threadgill Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 28.9% in the 3rd quarter. Threadgill Financial LLC now owns 1,537 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $661,000 after acquiring an additional 345 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total value of $32,017,386.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 864,327 shares in the company, valued at $353,189,942.01. This represents a 8.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The stock was 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 owns 544,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $219,349,953.73. The trade was a 6.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 183,431 shares of company stock valued at $74,956,968. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $417.00 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.30. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $421.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $426.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.10 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.91. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $362.90 and a 52-week high of $468.35.

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

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

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 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 dividend yield of 0.80%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 24.75%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MSFT. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. DA Davidson lowered shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $503.03.

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.