Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI cut its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report) by 5.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 42,879 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 2,382 shares during the period. Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $14,602,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its position 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 valued at $36,017,948,000 after purchasing an additional 150,053,637 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth about $20,700,525,000. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 35,465.9% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 16,515,452 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 14.0% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 119,417,954 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $28,638,815,000 after acquiring an additional 14,652,150 shares during the period. 69.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
MSFT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $390.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, September 22nd. Redburn Partners dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $450.00 to $440.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 11th. Argus lifted their target price on Microsoft from $371.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 31st. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price target on Microsoft from $310.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 27th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their target price on Microsoft from $330.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $376.34.
Microsoft Stock Performance
Shares of MSFT opened at $319.36 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $325.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $319.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.37 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.91. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $213.43 and a 52-week high of $366.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.77.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 25th. The software giant reported $2.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.14. Microsoft had a return on equity of 38.70% and a net margin of 34.15%. The company had revenue of $56.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.49 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.23 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 10.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Microsoft Increases Dividend
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 16th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 15th. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.94%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 30.96%.
Insider Buying and Selling
In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 26,815 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 1st. The stock was 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 filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $337.20, for a total transaction of $16,860,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 588,084 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $198,301,924.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 26,815 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $327.37, for a total transaction of $8,778,426.55. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 198,373 shares in the company, valued at $64,941,369.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 115,049 shares of company stock worth $38,195,619 in the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.
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.
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