Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stake Increased by Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.

Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 444,929 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,583 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 3.8% of Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its biggest holding. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $198,861,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Main Street Research LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Main Street Research LLC now owns 122,701 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $54,841,000 after acquiring an additional 3,525 shares in the last quarter. HighMark Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.4% during the second quarter. HighMark Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,200 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,430,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Market Street Wealth Management Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 3.0% during the second quarter. Market Street Wealth Management Advisors LLC now owns 3,343 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,494,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Dechtman Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.0% during the second quarter. Dechtman Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,709 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,892,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealthstream Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.0% during the second quarter. Wealthstream Advisors Inc. now owns 11,852 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,297,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $416.06 on Monday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $418.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $425.03. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $314.90 and a 52-week high of $468.35. The firm has a market cap of $3.09 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $64.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.38 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 35.95%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.69 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the software giant to purchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are 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 given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. 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 yield of 0.80%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 28.74%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the business’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 transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 50,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,552,000. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the business’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 transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 50,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,552,000. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total transaction of $16,103,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 544,847 shares in the company, valued at $219,349,953.73. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 190,629 shares of company stock worth $77,916,485. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $485.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $493.94.

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.