VERITY Wealth Advisors Boosts Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

VERITY Wealth Advisors raised its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 9,345 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 204 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 2.8% of VERITY Wealth Advisors’ holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. VERITY Wealth Advisors’ holdings in Microsoft were worth $4,021,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Czech National Bank increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 6.9% in the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 1,514,189 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $651,556,000 after purchasing an additional 97,893 shares in the last quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 2,799,261 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,204,664,000 after buying an additional 49,735 shares during the period. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,747 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,182,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Boltwood Capital Management raised its holdings in Microsoft by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Boltwood Capital Management now owns 16,592 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $7,140,000 after acquiring an additional 290 shares during the period. Finally, Trust Co of the South lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 6.7% during the third quarter. Trust Co of the South now owns 15,264 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $6,568,000 after acquiring an additional 963 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $415.76 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.30. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $362.90 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35. The firm has a market cap of $3.09 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.91. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $422.54 and a 200-day moving average price of $426.13.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The company’s revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.99 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.94 earnings per share for the current year.

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 given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.80%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.75%.

Microsoft announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the software giant to repurchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $470.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, October 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $503.03.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total value of $32,017,386.39. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 864,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $353,189,942.01. This trade represents a 8.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of Microsoft 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 in the company, valued at approximately $203,784,292.95. This trade represents a 7.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 197,829 shares of company stock worth $80,966,837. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.