Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Simmons Bank’s 3rd Largest Position

Simmons Bank lowered its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 101,378 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,799 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 3.4% of Simmons Bank’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Simmons Bank’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $45,311,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its holdings in Microsoft by 169.2% in the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth approximately $58,000. Richardson Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1,290.0% during the 1st quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Bellevue Group AG raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 47.5% during the 1st quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 180 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Horizon Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 1st quarter valued at $80,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the 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 in the company, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total value of $6,009,869.18. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 786,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $328,473,703.53. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total value of $1,027,600.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 50,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,552,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 190,629 shares of company stock worth $77,916,485. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of MSFT opened at $417.13 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $418.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $425.07. 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 cap of $3.10 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.12, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $311.21 and a 1 year high of $468.35.

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

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the software giant to repurchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.80%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.74%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on MSFT shares. 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. Argus increased their price objective on Microsoft from $475.00 to $526.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. TD Cowen increased their price target on Microsoft from $470.00 to $495.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $493.94.

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.