Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Saturna Capital Corp's 3rd Largest Position

Saturna Capital Corp lifted its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 0.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,111,853 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 2,720 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 6.3% of Saturna Capital Corp's portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Saturna Capital Corp's holdings in Microsoft were worth $478,430,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of MSFT. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its stake in Microsoft by 169.2% in the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter worth approximately $45,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter valued at about $75,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 10.1% during the third quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the software giant's stock worth $145,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MayTech Global Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at about $200,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were 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 $48,911,598. This represents a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total transaction of $3,050,352.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at $43,792,039.56. The trade was a 6.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. KeyCorp increased their price target on Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and set a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Truist Financial reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $600.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $512.93.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.0 %

NASDAQ MSFT traded up $4.45 during trading on Friday, reaching $429.03. 26,146,013 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,227,436. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $429.32 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $426.37. The stock has a market cap of $3.19 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $385.58 and a 1 year high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.30.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.99 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.77%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

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.