DDD Partners LLC Raises Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

DDD Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 37.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 169,619 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 46,060 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 8.8% of DDD Partners LLC's holdings, making the stock its largest holding. DDD Partners LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $75,811,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 664,908,939 shares of the software giant's stock worth $250,032,357,000 after acquiring an additional 15,701,937 shares during the period. Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the first quarter worth about $5,587,119,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 77.6% in the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 6,281,925 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,642,931,000 after buying an additional 2,744,900 shares during the period. Global Assets Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $989,814,000. Finally, M&G Plc bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $846,072,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total transaction of $1,027,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 50,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,552,000. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 17,378 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.85, for a total value of $7,157,129.30. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 150,161 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $61,843,807.85. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total transaction of $1,027,600.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 50,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,552,000. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT stock traded down $3.90 on Wednesday, reaching $414.84. 8,430,743 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,306,986. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a market cap of $3.08 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $324.39 and a twelve month high of $468.35. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $418.79 and a 200-day moving average of $424.65.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $64.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.38 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 35.95%. Microsoft's revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.69 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.80%. This is a boost from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.74%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on MSFT shares. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $506.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $465.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $470.00 to $495.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $493.47.

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.