S&CO Inc. Has $67.43 Million Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

S&CO Inc. boosted its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 156,711 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 7,397 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 4.4% of S&CO Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. S&CO Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $67,432,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. WFA Asset Management Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 27.0% during the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $427,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% during the second quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,658,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Nicholas Investment Partners LP lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 3.0% during the second quarter. Nicholas Investment Partners LP now owns 39,743 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $17,763,000 after purchasing an additional 1,164 shares during the last quarter. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 4.0% during the second quarter. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co now owns 34,234 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $15,301,000 after purchasing an additional 1,301 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proffitt & Goodson Inc. lifted its stake in Microsoft by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. Proffitt & Goodson Inc. now owns 10,901 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,872,000 after acquiring an additional 280 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were 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 owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at $43,792,039.56. This trade represents a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total transaction of $414,720.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 57,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,850,961.92. This trade represents a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892 in the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Trading Up 4.1 %

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $446.20 on Thursday. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $385.58 and a 52-week high of $468.35. The stock has a market cap of $3.32 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.90. 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 fifty day moving average of $429.65 and a 200-day moving average of $425.70.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.99 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 12.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.39%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Loop Capital lifted their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $512.66.

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.