Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Acquired by Evergreen Capital Management LLC

Evergreen Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 245,370 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 9,345 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 4.0% of Evergreen Capital Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Evergreen Capital Management LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $109,668,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth about $294,000. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 8.2% during the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 2,175,351 shares of the software giant's stock worth $972,273,000 after buying an additional 164,980 shares during the last quarter. Beck Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Beck Capital Management LLC now owns 31,460 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $14,061,000 after buying an additional 898 shares in the last quarter. Battery Global Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 34.2% in the 2nd quarter. Battery Global Advisors LLC now owns 1,906 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $852,000 after buying an additional 486 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc. raised its stake in Microsoft by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc. now owns 430,730 shares of the software giant's stock worth $192,515,000 after acquiring an additional 8,290 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $470.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, October 31st. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twenty-six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $503.03.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total value of $32,017,386.39. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 864,327 shares in the company, valued at approximately $353,189,942.01. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total transaction of $16,103,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 544,847 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $219,349,953.73. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total value of $32,017,386.39. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 864,327 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $353,189,942.01. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT traded down $2.89 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $422.54. The stock had a trading volume of 16,891,414 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,265,076. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $360.36 and a 52 week high of $468.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.14 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.91. The company's fifty day moving average is $421.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $425.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.29.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.99 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.94 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.79%. This is an increase from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.75%.

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

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.