Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Acquired by Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc.

Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. increased its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 37,729 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 259 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 3.8% of Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $16,863,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Microsoft by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 667,987,038 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $281,035,506,000 after buying an additional 3,078,099 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in Microsoft by 1.0% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 83,571,070 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $35,160,020,000 after acquiring an additional 842,884 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 25,381,692 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,544,532,000 after acquiring an additional 403,409 shares during the period. Swedbank AB increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 13,640,068 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $6,096,428,000 after purchasing an additional 360,171 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 15.6% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 11,931,721 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,019,942,000 after purchasing an additional 1,613,050 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.1 %

MSFT stock opened at $416.32 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $324.39 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35. The company has a market cap of $3.09 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.90. 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 business’s 50-day moving average is $417.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $424.65.

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

Microsoft announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the software giant to reacquire up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.83 dividend. 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 dividend yield of 0.80%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 25.40%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total transaction of $32,017,386.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 864,327 shares in the company, valued at $353,189,942.01. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total transaction of $32,017,386.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 864,327 shares in the company, valued at approximately $353,189,942.01. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 496,369 shares in the company, valued at $203,784,292.95. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 190,629 shares of company stock worth $77,916,485 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. DA Davidson downgraded shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.