Bay Rivers Group Acquires 1,003 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Bay Rivers Group increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 7.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,634 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,003 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 3.4% of Bay Rivers Group’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Bay Rivers Group’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $6,541,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $58,000. Richardson Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 1,290.0% during the first quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Bellevue Group AG boosted its position in Microsoft by 47.5% during the first quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 180 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Horizon Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Microsoft in the first quarter valued at approximately $80,000. Finally, Cooksen Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $86,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on MSFT. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Microsoft from $470.00 to $495.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Microsoft from $520.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $520.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $494.72.

Microsoft Price Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $435.27 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $3.24 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $420.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $424.33. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $309.45 and a one year high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $64.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.38 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 35.96%. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.69 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given 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 dividend yield of 0.76%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.97%.

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the software giant to buy up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total transaction of $32,017,386.39. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 864,327 shares in the company, valued at $353,189,942.01. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total transaction of $32,017,386.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 864,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $353,189,942.01. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total value of $1,027,600.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 50,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,552,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485 over the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is owned by 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.