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

Ayrshire Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 23,274 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 5.3% of Ayrshire Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its biggest position. Ayrshire Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $10,402,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. SlateStone Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC now owns 75,081 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $28,234,000 after acquiring an additional 2,576 shares in the last quarter. Demars Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Demars Financial Group LLC now owns 2,111 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $794,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its stake in Microsoft by 28.1% during the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 44,665 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $16,796,000 after purchasing an additional 9,798 shares during the last quarter. Pacific Wealth Strategies Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Pacific Wealth Strategies Group Inc. now owns 11,341 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,265,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the period. Finally, Lorne Steinberg Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in Microsoft by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Lorne Steinberg Wealth Management Inc. now owns 28,317 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $10,648,000 after purchasing an additional 434 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total value of $16,103,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 544,847 shares in the company, valued at $219,349,953.73. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total value of $16,103,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 544,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $219,349,953.73. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 864,327 shares in the company, valued at approximately $353,189,942.01. 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 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $435.27 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $309.45 and a 1 year high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.27. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $420.92 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $424.18. The firm has a market cap of $3.24 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.69, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.90.

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

Microsoft declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the software giant to reacquire up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 25.97%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Tigress Financial raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $485.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, June 17th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $494.72.

Microsoft 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.