Chico Wealth RIA Acquires 157 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Chico Wealth RIA raised its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 8.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,070 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 157 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 0.8% of Chico Wealth RIA’s holdings, making the stock its 12th largest position. Chico Wealth RIA’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $925,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Norges Bank bought a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,920,047,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 664,908,939 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $250,032,357,000 after purchasing an additional 15,701,937 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the first quarter valued at approximately $5,587,119,000. TCI Fund Management Ltd. bought a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $4,000,376,000. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its position in Microsoft by 77.6% in the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 6,281,925 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,642,931,000 after buying an additional 2,744,900 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, June 17th. New Street Research started coverage on Microsoft in a report on Monday, June 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $570.00 target price for the company. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on Microsoft from $520.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $494.72.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $435.27 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $420.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $424.03. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $309.45 and a 52 week high of $468.35. The company has a market cap of $3.24 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.05. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 35.95%. The business had revenue of $64.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.38 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.69 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.76%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.97%.

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program 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 programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total value of $6,009,869.18. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 786,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total value of $16,103,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 544,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $219,349,953.73. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total transaction of $6,009,869.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 786,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 190,629 shares of company stock worth $77,916,485 over the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Company 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.