Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. Lowers Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. reduced its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 22,281 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 140 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 2.9% of Pinnacle Bancorp Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $9,959,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $35,920,047,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 664,908,939 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $250,032,357,000 after purchasing an additional 15,701,937 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 1st quarter valued at $5,587,119,000. TCI Fund Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $4,000,376,000. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its position in Microsoft by 77.6% in the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 6,281,925 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,642,931,000 after acquiring an additional 2,744,900 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total transaction 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 $353,189,942.01. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total transaction 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 $353,189,942.01. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $410.55, for a total transaction of $15,600,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 496,369 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $203,784,292.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 130,751 shares of company stock valued at $53,628,156. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped 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. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Tigress Financial upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Argus upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $526.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Microsoft from $520.00 to $506.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $494.72.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT stock opened at $401.70 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $309.45 and a 1 year high of $468.35. The company has a market cap of $2.99 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.78, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.90. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $427.59 and a 200 day moving average of $422.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.27.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $64.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.38 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.69 earnings per share. Microsoft’s revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 25.97%.

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.