Veery Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report) by 7.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,261 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 287 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 0.7% of Veery Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Veery Capital LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,451,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MSFT. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 112,158.6% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 150,187,424 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $36,017,948,000 after acquiring an additional 150,053,637 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $20,700,525,000. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 35,465.9% during the first quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 20,611,140 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $66,852,000 after buying an additional 20,553,188 shares during the period. Providence Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 29,789.2% during the first quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 16,570,893 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $57,477,000 after buying an additional 16,515,452 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley grew its position in Microsoft by 14.0% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 119,417,954 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $28,638,815,000 after buying an additional 14,652,150 shares during the period. 69.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. HSBC assumed coverage on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, September 15th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $347.00 price target on the stock. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $400.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, September 21st. UBS Group raised shares of Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $345.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Friday, July 14th. Guggenheim raised shares of Microsoft from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 21st. Five 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, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $375.03.
Microsoft Price Performance
Shares of MSFT stock opened at $315.75 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.35 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.77 and a quick ratio of 1.75. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $213.43 and a 1-year high of $366.78. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $327.03 and a two-hundred day moving average of $317.68.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 25th. The software giant reported $2.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $56.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.49 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 34.15% and a return on equity of 38.70%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.23 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 10.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Microsoft Increases Dividend
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 16th will be given a $0.75 dividend. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.07%.
Insider Transactions at Microsoft
In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 26,815 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $327.37, for a total value of $8,778,426.55. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 198,373 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,941,369.01. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 26,815 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $327.37, for a total value of $8,778,426.55. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 198,373 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,941,369.01. The sale 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 dated Friday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $328.43, for a total transaction of $12,557,192.62. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 800,668 shares in the company, valued at $262,963,391.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 115,049 shares of company stock worth $38,195,619. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
About Microsoft
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.
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