Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Salem Investment Counselors Inc.’s 3rd Largest Position

Posted by on Oct 14th, 2023

Salem Investment Counselors Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report) by 0.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 403,267 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 3,393 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 5.0% of Salem Investment Counselors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Salem Investment Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $137,328,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Microsoft by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 634,238,715 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $147,714,197,000 after purchasing an additional 6,129,708 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in Microsoft by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 295,509,547 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $68,824,173,000 after purchasing an additional 1,951,554 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. FMR LLC now owns 200,523,373 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $57,810,889,000 after buying an additional 1,537,712 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Microsoft by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 195,859,819 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $50,302,677,000 after buying an additional 556,020 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 112,158.6% during the 4th 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 buying an additional 150,053,637 shares during the last quarter. 69.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 38,234 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $328.43, for a total transaction of $12,557,192.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 800,668 shares in the company, valued at $262,963,391.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 38,234 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $328.43, for a total transaction of $12,557,192.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 800,668 shares in the company, valued at $262,963,391.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 1st. The stock was 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 115,049 shares of company stock worth $38,195,619. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $400.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 26th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $400.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, September 21st. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $400.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, October 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on Microsoft from $398.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 20th. Finally, Redburn Partners decreased their price objective on Microsoft from $450.00 to $440.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 11th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $376.34.

Check Out Our Latest Research Report on Microsoft

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $327.73 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The business has a 50 day moving average of $324.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $321.26. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $213.43 and a 52 week high of $366.78. The company has a market cap of $2.43 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.82, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.91.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 25th. The software giant reported $2.69 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $55.49 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.23 earnings per share. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 10.9 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 16th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date 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 dividend yield of 0.92%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 28.07%.

Microsoft Company 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.

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT)

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