Torray Investment Partners LLC Has $17.04 Million Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Torray Investment Partners LLC reduced its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 6.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 38,116 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 2,695 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 2.5% of Torray Investment Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. Torray Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $17,036,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its stake in Microsoft by 169.2% in the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1,290.0% in the 1st quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at about $75,000. Bellevue Group AG raised its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Horizon Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft in the 1st quarter worth approximately $80,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on MSFT shares. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $506.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their target price on Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $495.68.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 864,327 shares in the company, valued at $353,189,942.01. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 864,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $353,189,942.01. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $410.55, for a total value of $15,600,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 496,369 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $203,784,292.95. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. 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 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $418.78 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $419.90 and a 200 day moving average of $424.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.11 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $324.39 and a 12-month high of $468.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $64.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.38 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 35.96%. The business’s quarterly 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. On average, research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.79%. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.74%.

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the software giant to buy up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.