Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stake Reduced by Vantage Investment Partners LLC

Posted by Defense World Staff on Oct 26th, 2023

Vantage Investment Partners LLC decreased its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report) by 16.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 84,662 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 16,333 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 3.7% of Vantage Investment Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Vantage Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $28,831,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Good Life Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.6% during the second quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC now owns 54,021 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $18,396,000 after buying an additional 311 shares in the last quarter. Carr Financial Group Corp boosted its stake in Microsoft by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. Carr Financial Group Corp now owns 10,761 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,665,000 after acquiring an additional 417 shares during the last quarter. Planning Center Inc. increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 24.4% in the 2nd quarter. Planning Center Inc. now owns 4,849 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,651,000 after purchasing an additional 950 shares during the last quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 6.6% in the 1st quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV now owns 1,518,749 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $437,855,000 after purchasing an additional 94,563 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DAVENPORT & Co LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.0% during the second quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 868,980 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $295,161,000 after purchasing an additional 8,762 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.20% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 26,815 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 198,373 shares in the company, valued at $64,941,369.01. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $337.20, for a total value of $16,860,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 588,084 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $198,301,924.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 26,815 shares of the business’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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 198,373 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,941,369.01. 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. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on MSFT shares. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on Microsoft from $398.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 20th. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price objective on Microsoft from $360.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 16th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $345.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Friday, July 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $385.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, September 22nd. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $420.00 to $430.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 19th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $379.93.

View Our Latest Report on MSFT

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $340.67 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.77. The company has a market capitalization of $2.53 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.91. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $326.19 and a 200-day moving average of $324.09. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $213.43 and a one year high of $366.78.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 24th. The software giant reported $2.99 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.65 by $0.34. The business had revenue of $56.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $54.52 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 38.70% and a net margin of 34.15%. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.35 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 10.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 16th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 15th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.88%. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.96%.

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.