Bay Rivers Group Has $6.42 Million Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Bay Rivers Group grew its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,920 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 286 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 3.2% of Bay Rivers Group’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Bay Rivers Group’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $6,420,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Trinity Street Asset Management LLP grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 7.2% during the third quarter. Trinity Street Asset Management LLP now owns 58,331 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $25,100,000 after buying an additional 3,934 shares in the last quarter. Davidson Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% in the third quarter. Davidson Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,635 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,285,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. lifted its position in Microsoft by 6.5% during the third quarter. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. now owns 115,680 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $49,777,000 after acquiring an additional 7,039 shares during the last quarter. Dodds Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.9% during the third quarter. Dodds Wealth LLC now owns 1,870 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $778,000 after buying an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tyche Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 10.0% in the third quarter. Tyche Wealth Partners LLC now owns 33,675 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $14,490,000 after buying an additional 3,060 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $430.53 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $366.50 and a 52-week high of $468.35. The firm has a market cap of $3.20 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.52, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.30. The business’s fifty day moving average is $428.90 and its 200 day moving average is $428.88.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The firm had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.99 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

Microsoft announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the software giant to purchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MSFT. DA Davidson cut shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their target price on Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $470.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $509.90.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total transaction of $3,050,352.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at $43,792,039.56. This represents a 6.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total value of $1,118,525.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 49,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,080,578.32. The trade was a 4.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.