Covenant Asset Management LLC Has $26.53 Million Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Sep 26th, 2023

Covenant Asset Management LLC grew its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report) by 0.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 77,910 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 6.7% of Covenant Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Covenant Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $26,532,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Monumental Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Gleason Group Inc. boosted its stake in Microsoft by 111.7% during the first quarter. Gleason Group Inc. now owns 199 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Syverson Strege & Co grew its holdings in Microsoft by 157.0% in the first quarter. Syverson Strege & Co now owns 203 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the period. Alapocas Investment Partners Inc. bought a new stake in Microsoft in the first quarter valued at $97,000. Finally, MayTech Global Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at about $83,000. 69.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on MSFT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $385.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on Microsoft from $398.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 20th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $420.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday. Guggenheim raised shares of Microsoft from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $336.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 19th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $375.03.

Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on Microsoft

Microsoft Stock Up 0.2 %

Microsoft stock opened at $317.54 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.36 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.90. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $330.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $316.86. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $213.43 and a 1-year high of $366.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 25th. The software giant reported $2.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $56.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $55.49 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 38.70% and a net margin of 34.15%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.23 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 10.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 16th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.94%. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.96%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $337.20, for a total transaction of $16,860,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 588,084 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $198,301,924.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $337.20, for a total value of $16,860,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 588,084 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $198,301,924.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 38,234 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Friday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $328.43, for a total value of $12,557,192.62. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 800,668 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $262,963,391.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 115,049 shares of company stock worth $38,195,619. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Profile

(Free Report)

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.