Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Silvant Capital Management LLC’s 2nd Largest Position

Silvant Capital Management LLC cut its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.2% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 562,423 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,243 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 11.2% of Silvant Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Silvant Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $251,375,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. RPS Advisory Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft during the second quarter worth about $2,990,000. Fullcircle Wealth LLC bought a new position in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $6,062,000. Kanawha Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.7% during the second quarter. Kanawha Capital Management LLC now owns 216,136 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $96,602,000 after buying an additional 3,702 shares during the period. Etesian Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Etesian Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 10,407 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,651,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Waterway Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 7.1% during the 2nd quarter. Waterway Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,320 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,931,000 after buying an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total value of $6,009,869.18. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 786,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total transaction of $16,103,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 544,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $219,349,953.73. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MSFT. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Microsoft from $520.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. TD Cowen boosted their price target 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. New Street Research began coverage on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, June 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $570.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $493.94.

Microsoft Price Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $428.02 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $419.51 and its 200 day moving average is $424.99. 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 Co. has a one year low of $309.45 and a one year high of $468.35. The firm has a market cap of $3.18 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $64.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.38 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 35.95%. The business’s revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.69 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the software giant to reacquire up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.78%. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.74%.

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.