Vista Finance LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Vista Finance LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 22.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,020 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 0.7% of Vista Finance LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Vista Finance LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $456,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. New Harbor Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 55.9% during the 2nd quarter. New Harbor Financial Group LLC now owns 1,255 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $561,000 after buying an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. True Link Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 296.7% during the 1st quarter. True Link Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,027 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,274,000 after acquiring an additional 2,264 shares during the period. AMG National Trust Bank lifted its stake in Microsoft by 19.0% in the 2nd quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 81,502 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $36,427,000 after purchasing an additional 12,994 shares in the last quarter. Spinnaker Investment Group LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Spinnaker Investment Group LLC now owns 12,521 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,268,000 after purchasing an additional 326 shares during the period. Finally, Leeward Financial Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 15.8% during the 1st quarter. Leeward Financial Partners LLC now owns 35,610 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $14,982,000 after purchasing an additional 4,861 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $495.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. One investment 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $495.58.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.0 %

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $424.73 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.16 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.90. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $420.33 and its 200 day moving average is $424.56. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $326.94 and a twelve month 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.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $64.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.38 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.69 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 28.74%.

Microsoft announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 50,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,552,000. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total transaction of $1,027,600.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 50,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,552,000. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.