Umpqua Bank Boosts Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Umpqua Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 35,369 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 755 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 5.6% of Umpqua Bank’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Umpqua Bank’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $15,219,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. WFA Asset Management Corp boosted its position in Microsoft by 27.0% in the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $427,000 after buying an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. AA Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 9.0% in the 2nd quarter. AA Financial Advisors LLC now owns 14,073 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $6,290,000 after acquiring an additional 1,161 shares in the last quarter. Andina Capital Management LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 19.3% during the 2nd quarter. Andina Capital Management LLC now owns 939 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $420,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. FCG Investment Co increased its holdings in Microsoft by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. FCG Investment Co now owns 25,570 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $11,428,000 after purchasing an additional 851 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 253,594 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $113,344,000 after purchasing an additional 3,780 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total value of $1,118,525.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 49,352 shares in the company, valued at $22,080,578.32. This trade represents a 4.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. This represents a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $422.37 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $428.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $427.79. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $369.01 and a 52-week high of $468.35. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $3.14 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly 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 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 quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.99 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 27.39%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. TD Cowen lowered their target price on Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price target on shares of Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, October 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $511.62.

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.