American National Bank Raises Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

American National Bank lifted its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 101,243 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,350 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 5.6% of American National Bank’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest position. American National Bank’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $45,251,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MSFT. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 667,987,038 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $281,035,506,000 after buying an additional 3,078,099 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,920,047,000. Capital International Investors increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 83,571,070 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $35,160,020,000 after purchasing an additional 842,884 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 25,381,692 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,544,532,000 after purchasing an additional 403,409 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 13,640,068 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $6,096,428,000 after buying an additional 360,171 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 research analysts recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Citigroup reduced their price target on Microsoft from $520.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Argus raised their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $526.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, June 7th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Microsoft from $465.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $493.94.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

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

Microsoft Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $433.51 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.22 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.90. The business has a 50-day moving average of $420.51 and a 200 day moving average of $424.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.27. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $309.45 and a 1-year high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.05. Microsoft had a return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 35.96%. The company had revenue of $64.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.38 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.69 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 earnings per share for the current 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 issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.77%. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.74%.

Microsoft announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock 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 purchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.