Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Highview Capital Management LLC DE’s 7th Largest Position

Highview Capital Management LLC DE grew its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 5.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,714 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 915 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 3.3% of Highview Capital Management LLC DE’s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Highview Capital Management LLC DE’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $8,053,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MSFT. Lodestar Private Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 0.4% during the third quarter. Lodestar Private Asset Management LLC now owns 9,787 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,211,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Saybrook Capital NC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 15.0% in the third quarter. Saybrook Capital NC now owns 1,343 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $578,000 after buying an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. BCK Partners Inc. raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. BCK Partners Inc. now owns 1,353 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $582,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 62,093 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $26,718,000 after buying an additional 1,638 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bay Rivers Group grew its stake in Microsoft by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Bay Rivers Group now owns 14,920 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $6,420,000 after acquiring an additional 286 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on MSFT shares. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price target on Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $525.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $470.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $509.90.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total transaction of $3,050,352.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. The trade was a 6.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.7 %

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $430.53 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $428.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $428.88. The stock has a market cap of $3.20 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.52, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $366.50 and a 52 week high of $468.35. 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 earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 last year, the firm earned $2.99 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.39%.

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the software giant to purchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.