Northcape Wealth Management LLC Has $8.36 Million Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Northcape Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,710 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 290 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 3.0% of Northcape Wealth Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Northcape Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $8,362,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AMG National Trust Bank boosted its position in Microsoft by 19.0% during the 2nd quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 81,502 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $36,427,000 after purchasing an additional 12,994 shares during the period. Brown Financial Advisory bought a new stake in Microsoft in the second quarter valued at $204,000. Tempus Wealth Planning LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.3% during the second quarter. Tempus Wealth Planning LLC now owns 20,957 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,367,000 after acquiring an additional 272 shares during the period. Dodds Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 12.4% during the second quarter. Dodds Wealth LLC now owns 1,818 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $835,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. Finally, POM Investment Strategies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 9.9% in the 2nd quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 3,119 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,394,000 after acquiring an additional 281 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT stock opened at $428.02 on Monday. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $309.45 and a one year high of $468.35. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $419.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $425.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.18 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.05. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 35.95%. The business had revenue of $64.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.38 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.69 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the software giant to reacquire up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 28.74%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total transaction of $1,027,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 50,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,552,000. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total transaction of $6,009,869.18. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 786,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total transaction of $1,027,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 50,000 shares in the company, valued at $20,552,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on MSFT. DA Davidson cut shares of 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. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, June 7th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Microsoft from $470.00 to $495.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. New Street Research started coverage on Microsoft in a research note on Monday, June 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $570.00 price target for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $506.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $493.94.

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.