Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Holdings Lifted by Quest Investment Management LLC

Quest Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 3.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 156,258 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 5,176 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 7.7% of Quest Investment Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Quest Investment Management LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $69,840,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of MSFT. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 667,987,038 shares of the software giant's stock worth $281,035,506,000 after buying an additional 3,078,099 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 83,571,070 shares of the software giant's stock worth $35,160,020,000 after buying an additional 842,884 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 6.9% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 24,091,789 shares of the software giant's stock worth $10,768,771,000 after buying an additional 1,563,533 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 14,738,956 shares of the software giant's stock worth $6,587,576,000 after buying an additional 45,220 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 13,640,068 shares of the software giant's stock worth $6,096,428,000 after buying an additional 360,171 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $410.55, for a total transaction of $15,600,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 496,369 shares of the company's stock, valued at $203,784,292.95. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total value of $1,027,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 50,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,552,000. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $410.55, for a total value of $15,600,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 496,369 shares in the company, valued at $203,784,292.95. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MSFT. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. TD Cowen dropped their price target on Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and set a $470.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $503.03.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of Microsoft stock traded down $2.89 on Friday, reaching $422.54. The company had a trading volume of 16,891,414 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,265,076. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $360.36 and a 1 year high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The firm has a market cap 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 firm's 50-day moving average price is $421.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $424.95.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.99 EPS. Microsoft's quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the software giant to repurchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

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

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.