Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Holdings Increased by Naviter Wealth LLC

Posted by Defense World Staff on Oct 17th, 2023

Naviter Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report) by 11.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 26,748 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,746 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 2.3% of Naviter Wealth LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Naviter Wealth LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $9,109,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Monumental Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. Gleason Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 111.7% during the 1st quarter. Gleason Group Inc. now owns 199 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the period. Syverson Strege & Co lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 157.0% during the 1st quarter. Syverson Strege & Co now owns 203 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the period. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 39.0% during the 2nd quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 303 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $103,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the period. Finally, Alapocas Investment Partners Inc. bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 1st quarter valued at $97,000. 69.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Trading Up 1.5 %

MSFT opened at $332.64 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $2.47 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.91. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $213.43 and a 12 month 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. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $324.95 and a 200 day moving average of $322.21.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $56.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.49 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 34.15% and a return on equity of 38.70%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.23 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 10.9 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 is Wednesday, November 15th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.90%. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.96%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 198,373 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $64,941,369.01. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 50,000 shares of Microsoft 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 completion of the sale, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 26,815 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $327.37, for a total transaction of $8,778,426.55. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 198,373 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,941,369.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 115,049 shares of company stock valued at $38,195,619 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Mizuho increased their price target on Microsoft from $360.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 17th. Argus raised 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. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $400.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, October 2nd. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $415.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on Microsoft in a report on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $376.61.

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Microsoft Company Profile

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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.