Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Beaton Management Co. Inc.’s Largest Position

Posted by Defense World Staff on Oct 21st, 2023

Beaton Management Co. Inc. cut its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report) by 0.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,371 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 120 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 4.0% of Beaton Management Co. Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its largest holding. Beaton Management Co. Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $6,256,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Monumental Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the first quarter valued at $28,000. Gleason Group Inc. raised its stake in Microsoft by 111.7% in the first quarter. Gleason Group Inc. now owns 199 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Syverson Strege & Co raised its stake in Microsoft by 157.0% in the first quarter. Syverson Strege & Co now owns 203 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. MayTech Global Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $83,000. Finally, Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. raised its stake in Microsoft by 57.5% in the third quarter. Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. now owns 411 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $95,000 after buying an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. 69.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $326.67 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $325.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $322.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.43 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.91. 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 12 month low of $213.43 and a 12 month high of $366.78.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report) last issued 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. Microsoft had a return on equity of 38.70% and a net margin of 34.15%. The firm 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 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 10.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 16th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. 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%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 15th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 30.96%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $400.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, October 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted 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. StockNews.com began coverage on Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. UBS Group upgraded Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $345.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Friday, July 14th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on Microsoft from $420.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $378.11.

View Our Latest Stock Report on MSFT

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 38,234 shares of Microsoft 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 approximately $262,963,391.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 588,084 shares in the company, valued at approximately $198,301,924.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 38,234 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 800,668 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $262,963,391.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 115,049 shares of company stock worth $38,195,619 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

About Microsoft

(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.