Davis Selected Advisers Sells 523 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Davis Selected Advisers trimmed its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.2% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 258,122 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 523 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 0.7% of Davis Selected Advisers’ portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Davis Selected Advisers’ holdings in Microsoft were worth $115,368,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Rebalance LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% in the second quarter. Rebalance LLC now owns 3,451 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,542,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the period. First National Bank Sioux Falls boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% during the second quarter. First National Bank Sioux Falls now owns 6,340 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,834,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. Doheny Asset Management CA grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% during the first quarter. Doheny Asset Management CA now owns 6,397 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,691,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Flagship Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Flagship Private Wealth LLC now owns 913 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $408,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Wealth Management boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management now owns 9,640 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,309,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $428.15 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.18 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.07, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.90. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $420.40 and a 200 day moving average of $424.56. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $326.94 and a twelve month high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 the consensus estimate of $64.38 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 35.95%. The company’s revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.69 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 0.78%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.74%.

Microsoft declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the software giant to repurchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their target price on Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $495.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Microsoft from $465.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $495.94.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total transaction of $32,017,386.39. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 864,327 shares in the company, valued at $353,189,942.01. 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 related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total value of $32,017,386.39. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 864,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $353,189,942.01. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 17,378 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 150,161 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $61,843,807.85. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 190,629 shares of company stock worth $77,916,485. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

About Microsoft

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.