Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Purchased by Provident Trust Co.

Provident Trust Co. grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 8.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,994 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 696 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 0.1% of Provident Trust Co.’s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest position. Provident Trust Co.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,870,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its position in Microsoft by 169.2% in the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $45,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter valued at approximately $75,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 10.1% during the third quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $145,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the period. Finally, MayTech Global Investments LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft during the second quarter worth approximately $200,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total value of $10,425,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,911,598. This trade represents a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $22,080,578.32. The trade was a 4.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $418.95 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.11 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $380.38 and a 1 year 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. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $428.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $427.39.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.99 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the software giant to repurchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.79%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.39%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MSFT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Wells Fargo & Company restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their target price 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.