Victory Capital Management Inc. Sells 52,063 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Victory Capital Management Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,887,150 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 52,063 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 2.6% of Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its largest position. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned about 0.08% of Microsoft worth $2,631,262,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its stake in Microsoft by 169.2% during the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. Richardson Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 1,290.0% during the 1st quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the period. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $75,000. Bellevue Group AG boosted its stake in Microsoft by 47.5% during the 1st 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 period. Finally, Horizon Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $80,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.3 %

MSFT stock opened at $418.16 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $419.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $424.51. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $324.39 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.11 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 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.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.05. Microsoft had a return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 35.96%. The firm had revenue of $64.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.38 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.69 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $60.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the software giant to repurchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.74%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total value of $16,103,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 544,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $219,349,953.73. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total value of $16,103,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 544,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $219,349,953.73. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total value of $6,009,869.18. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 786,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $328,473,703.53. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup decreased their target price on Microsoft from $520.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Mizuho increased their target price on Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Bank of America increased their target price on Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Wedbush reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $520.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $495.68.

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.