Confluence Wealth Services Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Confluence Wealth Services Inc. boosted its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 7.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 59,484 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 4,354 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 2.1% of Confluence Wealth Services Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Confluence Wealth Services Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $26,586,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Graypoint LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 2.1% in the second quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 85,899 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $38,393,000 after buying an additional 1,803 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% during the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 922,140 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $412,150,000 after purchasing an additional 7,521 shares in the last quarter. Equita Financial Network Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 42.4% in the second quarter. Equita Financial Network Inc. now owns 1,434 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $641,000 after purchasing an additional 427 shares during the period. First National Bank Sioux Falls increased its stake in Microsoft by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. First National Bank Sioux Falls now owns 6,340 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,834,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. Finally, Sage Mountain Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 13.4% in the 2nd quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 50,491 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $22,567,000 after buying an additional 5,984 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $416.32 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $324.39 and a 12 month high of $468.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.09 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.90. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $417.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $424.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.27.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $64.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.38 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 35.95%. Microsoft’s revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.69 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $60.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the software giant to buy up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.80%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 25.40%.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total transaction of $6,009,869.18. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 786,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $410.55, for a total value of $15,600,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 496,369 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $203,784,292.95. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total transaction of $6,009,869.18. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 786,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. This represents 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 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on MSFT. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $470.00 to $495.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Mizuho lifted their price target on Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $485.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $493.47.

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.