Truepoint Inc. Reduces Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Truepoint Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 7.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,125 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 406 shares during the quarter. Truepoint Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,291,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 5.7% in the first quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp now owns 38,424 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $16,166,000 after acquiring an additional 2,076 shares during the period. Ellenbecker Investment Group grew its position in Microsoft by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. Ellenbecker Investment Group now owns 10,644 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,478,000 after purchasing an additional 464 shares during the last quarter. Safeguard Financial LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 28.3% in the first quarter. Safeguard Financial LLC now owns 6,691 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,815,000 after purchasing an additional 1,476 shares during the period. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 50.0% in the first quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 12,732 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,357,000 after buying an additional 4,243 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fulton Bank N.A. boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.3% during the first quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 118,996 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $50,064,000 after buying an additional 1,574 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $418.16 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a market capitalization of $3.11 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.90. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $419.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $424.54. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $324.39 and a twelve month high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.38 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.69 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a $0.83 dividend. This is an increase 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 of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.74%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total value 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 trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed 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 owns 544,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $219,349,953.73. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total value 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 approximately $353,189,942.01. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group dropped their price target on Microsoft from $520.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Microsoft from $470.00 to $495.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $520.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $495.68.

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.