Hutchinson Capital Management CA Acquires 258 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Hutchinson Capital Management CA raised its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.4% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 71,919 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 258 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 6.6% of Hutchinson Capital Management CA’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Hutchinson Capital Management CA’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $32,144,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Sachetta LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 10,929 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,622,000 after purchasing an additional 297 shares in the last quarter. Insight Inv LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.9% in the second quarter. Insight Inv LLC now owns 9,557 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,272,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% in the second quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 138,693 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $61,989,000 after buying an additional 637 shares during the period. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 44.4% during the second quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 60,603 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $27,087,000 after buying an additional 18,638 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. raised its position in Microsoft by 230.3% during the second quarter. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. now owns 116,736 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $52,175,000 after buying an additional 81,392 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.8 %

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $428.15 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $326.94 and a one year high of $468.35. The firm has a market cap of $3.18 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $420.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $424.56.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.05. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 35.95%. The business had revenue of $64.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the software giant to reacquire up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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 is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. 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. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.74%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of Microsoft 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 owns 496,369 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $203,784,292.95. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 496,369 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $203,784,292.95. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the firm’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 sale, the insider now owns 544,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. Insiders sold a total of 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485 in the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America upped their target price on Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Microsoft from $485.00 to $470.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 18th. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Microsoft from $465.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $506.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $495.94.

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.