Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Purchased by Commerce Bank

Commerce Bank boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,090,288 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,919 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 4.7% of Commerce Bank’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Commerce Bank’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $602,630,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Microsoft by 1.0% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 634,238,715 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $147,714,197,000 after buying an additional 6,129,708 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in Microsoft by 0.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 295,509,547 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $68,824,173,000 after buying an additional 1,951,554 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in Microsoft by 0.3% in the second quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 195,859,819 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $50,302,677,000 after buying an additional 556,020 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 112,158.6% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 150,187,424 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $36,017,948,000 after purchasing an additional 150,053,637 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 142,731,177 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $34,172,705,000 after purchasing an additional 3,268,917 shares during the period. 69.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Teri List sold 1,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $334.77, for a total transaction of $418,462.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 874 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $292,588.98. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 50,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $337.20, for a total value of $16,860,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 588,084 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $198,301,924.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Teri List sold 1,250 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $334.77, for a total value of $418,462.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 874 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $292,588.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $328.41 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $2.44 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $213.43 and a 12-month high of $366.78. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $333.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $307.12.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 25th. The software giant reported $2.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $56.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.49 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 38.70% and a net margin of 34.15%. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.23 EPS. Analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 10.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 17th will be given a dividend of $0.68 per share. This represents a $2.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 16th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.07%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Microsoft from $340.00 to $380.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 30th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Microsoft from $350.00 to $390.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 26th. Mizuho increased their target price on Microsoft from $360.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 17th. KeyCorp increased their target price on Microsoft from $340.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 18th. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a “sell” rating and set a $232.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and thirty-three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $373.68.

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.