Cardinal Capital Management Has $22.52 Million Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Cardinal Capital Management raised its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 52,338 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 681 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 3.5% of Cardinal Capital Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Cardinal Capital Management’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $22,521,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in Microsoft in the first quarter worth about $5,587,119,000. Wulff Hansen & CO. raised its stake in Microsoft by 47,196.6% during the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 4,834,658 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,160,850,000 after buying an additional 4,824,436 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 667,987,038 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $281,035,506,000 after buying an additional 3,078,099 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 77.6% during the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 6,281,925 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,642,931,000 after acquiring an additional 2,744,900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&G Plc bought a new position in Microsoft during the first quarter worth $846,072,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $443.57 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.30 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $421.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $427.00. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $364.13 and a 52-week high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its 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. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.99 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to buyback $60.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the software giant to buy up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.75%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.39%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the business’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 value of $3,050,352.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. The trade was a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total value of $1,027,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 50,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,552,000. This trade represents a 4.76 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 58,578 shares of company stock valued at $24,450,096 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $470.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. UBS Group dropped their target price on Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $504.36.

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.