Hendershot Investments Inc. Has $25.21 Million Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Hendershot Investments Inc. lifted its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 56,413 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 143 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 3.6% of Hendershot Investments Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Hendershot Investments Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $25,214,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bath Savings Trust Co raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.0% in the first quarter. Bath Savings Trust Co now owns 92,790 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $39,039,000 after acquiring an additional 954 shares during the period. jvl associates llc grew its holdings in Microsoft by 26.4% during the 1st quarter. jvl associates llc now owns 3,856 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,622,000 after acquiring an additional 805 shares in the last quarter. Emprise Bank bought a new position in Microsoft during the 1st quarter worth about $8,006,000. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.6% during the first quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,749 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,157,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Great Waters Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 6.2% in the 1st quarter. Great Waters Wealth Management now owns 4,758 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,002,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 50,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,552,000. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 786,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. This 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 have sold 190,629 shares of company stock worth $77,916,485. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $506.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $520.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. 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 stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $495.68.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.3 %

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $418.16 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $324.39 and a 52 week high of $468.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $419.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $424.51. The firm has a market cap of $3.11 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $64.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.38 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 35.95%. Microsoft’s revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.69 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.02 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business 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 is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 28.74%.

About Microsoft

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.