General American Investors Co. Inc. Raises Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

General American Investors Co. Inc. increased its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 29.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 200,000 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 45,000 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 5.9% of General American Investors Co. Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. General American Investors Co. Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $86,060,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 169.2% during the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at about $45,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter worth approximately $75,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the software giant's stock worth $145,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MayTech Global Investments LLC bought a new position in Microsoft in the second quarter valued at $200,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT stock traded down $5.61 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $418.95. The company's stock had a trading volume of 20,131,691 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,908,811. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $380.38 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $428.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $427.53. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company has a market capitalization of $3.11 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.57, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.99 earnings per share. Microsoft's revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.79%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is presently 27.39%.

Microsoft announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $60.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the software giant to reacquire up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MSFT. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Microsoft from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $511.62.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total value of $3,050,352.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. This trade represents a 6.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total value of $414,720.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 57,511 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. The trade was a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

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.