Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. Acquires 12,489 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 6.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 196,071 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,489 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 3.5% of Tandem Investment Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $87,634,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Rebalance LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Rebalance LLC now owns 3,451 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,542,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. First National Bank Sioux Falls grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. First National Bank Sioux Falls now owns 6,340 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,834,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Arkansas Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Arkansas Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,719 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $646,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Partnership Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Partnership Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,202 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,609,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Doheny Asset Management CA grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Doheny Asset Management CA now owns 6,397 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,691,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.1 %

Microsoft stock opened at $416.32 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.27. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $417.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $424.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.09 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.25, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $324.39 and a 52 week high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.05. Microsoft had a return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 35.96%. The business had revenue of $64.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.38 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.69 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company 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 represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.80%. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 25.40%.

Microsoft announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the software giant to purchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on MSFT shares. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Microsoft from $470.00 to $495.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Microsoft from $520.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. DA Davidson cut Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $465.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $493.47.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total transaction of $6,009,869.18. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 786,933 shares in the company, valued at $328,473,703.53. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total transaction of $6,009,869.18. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 786,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 496,369 shares in the company, valued at $203,784,292.95. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 190,629 shares of company stock worth $77,916,485 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.