Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Holdings Raised by Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A.

Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. raised its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 22.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 454,055 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 83,239 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 11.2% of Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $195,380,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. PDS Planning Inc increased its position in Microsoft by 0.9% during the third quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 40,010 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $17,216,000 after acquiring an additional 359 shares during the last quarter. Leeward Financial Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 11.6% in the third quarter. Leeward Financial Partners LLC now owns 40,404 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $17,386,000 after purchasing an additional 4,202 shares during the last quarter. Palisades Hudson Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% in the third quarter. Palisades Hudson Asset Management L.P. now owns 9,231 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,972,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 4.3% in the third quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,228,198 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $528,494,000 after purchasing an additional 50,121 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.8% in the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 3,020,221 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,299,601,000 after purchasing an additional 53,182 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total value of $414,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 57,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. The trade was a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total value of $10,425,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,911,598. This represents a 17.57 % decrease in their position. 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. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT stock opened at $423.35 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $428.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $428.08. The stock has a market cap of $3.15 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.93, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $366.50 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The firm’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.99 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors 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 yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 27.39%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $470.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $509.90.

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.