Ancora Advisors LLC Raises Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Ancora Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 237,780 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 999 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 2.3% of Ancora Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. Ancora Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $100,039,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,920,047,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $9,625,201,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 664,908,939 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $250,032,357,000 after acquiring an additional 15,701,937 shares during the period. TCI Fund Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth $4,000,376,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 277.8% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 7,004,341 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,633,912,000 after purchasing an additional 5,150,160 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total value of $101,389.32. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 47,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,534,480.83. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total transaction of $10,642,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 104,949 shares in the company, valued at $44,674,690.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total value of $101,389.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 47,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,534,480.83. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 25,566 shares of company stock valued at $10,877,535 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 13th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $495.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $489.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Microsoft from $450.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $485.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $494.72.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $424.80 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.16 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.78, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $309.45 and a twelve month high of $468.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $436.43 and a 200 day moving average of $422.66.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.38 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.69 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.71%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.97%.

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.