Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Carnegie Investment Counsel’s 2nd Largest Position

Carnegie Investment Counsel boosted its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 278,341 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 8,099 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 3.5% of Carnegie Investment Counsel’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Carnegie Investment Counsel’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $119,770,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cardinal Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Cardinal Capital Management Inc. now owns 890 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $383,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Planning Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 19.3% during the 3rd quarter. Retirement Planning Group LLC now owns 21,871 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $9,411,000 after purchasing an additional 3,543 shares during the last quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 67,835 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $29,190,000 after purchasing an additional 2,182 shares during the last quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 27,583 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $11,869,000 after purchasing an additional 490 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Montis Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter. Montis Financial LLC now owns 7,610 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,275,000 after purchasing an additional 486 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $423.46 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company has a market cap of $3.15 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.94, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.91. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $362.90 and a 52 week high of $468.35. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $420.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $426.46.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results 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 net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.99 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 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. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.78%. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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 buy up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. KeyCorp upped their price objective on Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price objective on Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $503.03.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on 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 owns 864,327 shares in the company, valued at $353,189,942.01. This trade represents a 8.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total transaction of $414,720.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 57,511 shares in the company, valued at $23,850,961.92. The trade was a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 209,431 shares of company stock worth $85,796,688. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.