Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is First City Capital Management Inc.'s Largest Position

First City Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 2.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 25,478 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 697 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 5.6% of First City Capital Management Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. First City Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $10,963,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Net Worth Advisory Group acquired a new position in Microsoft during the third quarter worth $2,645,000. Oak Ridge Investments LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 263,534 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $113,399,000 after buying an additional 18,544 shares during the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp increased its position in Microsoft by 1.6% during the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 1,975,200 shares of the software giant's stock worth $882,816,000 after buying an additional 31,401 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs & Co. CA raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.9% in the third quarter. Jacobs & Co. CA now owns 96,021 shares of the software giant's stock worth $41,318,000 after acquiring an additional 880 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Focus Financial Network Inc. lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% in the third quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 76,296 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $32,830,000 after acquiring an additional 1,489 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT traded down $2.65 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $444.06. The stock had a trading volume of 15,539,488 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,490,811. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $431.05 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $425.54. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $385.58 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35. The company has a market cap of $3.30 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.64, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.99 earnings per share. Microsoft's quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 12.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Truist Financial restated a "buy" rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Microsoft from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company restated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $512.66.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total transaction of $10,425,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,911,598. This represents a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total value of $414,720.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 57,511 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. This represents 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 worth $17,383,892 over the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Company 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.