Ramsay Stattman Vela & Price Inc. Has $48.32 Million Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Ramsay Stattman Vela & Price Inc. lowered its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 112,290 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,626 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 9.0% of Ramsay Stattman Vela & Price Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Ramsay Stattman Vela & Price Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $48,318,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. WFA Asset Management Corp lifted its stake in Microsoft by 27.0% in the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $427,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 7.6% in the 2nd quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 82,603 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $37,938,000 after buying an additional 5,856 shares during the last quarter. Svenska Handelsbanken AB publ bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth about $33,215,000. Bennett Selby Investments LP grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Bennett Selby Investments LP now owns 18,666 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $8,343,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Enterprise Bank & Trust Co increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.9% in the second quarter. Enterprise Bank & Trust Co now owns 36,417 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $16,277,000 after acquiring an additional 680 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total transaction of $414,720.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 57,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. The trade was a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total value of $10,425,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,911,598. The trade was a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $430.53 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.20 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.52, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $428.90 and a 200-day moving average of $428.87. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $366.50 and a 12 month high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 period in the previous year, the business earned $2.99 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.39%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on MSFT. DA Davidson cut Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $525.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $509.90.

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.