Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is McBroom & Associates LLC’s 5th Largest Position

McBroom & Associates LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 18,727 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 234 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 5.2% of McBroom & Associates LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest position. McBroom & Associates LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $8,370,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in Microsoft in the first quarter worth $5,587,119,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% in 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 during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 77.6% in the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 6,281,925 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,642,931,000 after buying an additional 2,744,900 shares during the last quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC bought a new position in Microsoft during the first quarter valued at about $989,814,000. Finally, M&G Plc bought a new stake in Microsoft in the first quarter worth about $846,072,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 17,378 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.85, for a total value of $7,157,129.30. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 150,161 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $61,843,807.85. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total transaction of $6,009,869.18. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 786,933 shares in the company, valued at $328,473,703.53. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 17,378 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.85, for a total value of $7,157,129.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 150,161 shares in the company, valued at $61,843,807.85. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $424.73 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $326.94 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.27. The stock has a market cap of $3.16 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.90. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $420.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $424.56.

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 business had revenue of $64.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.38 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.69 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities 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 approved 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 repurchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.78%. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.74%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MSFT. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Microsoft from $470.00 to $495.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Microsoft from $465.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on Microsoft from $485.00 to $470.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $495.58.

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.