Stelac Advisory Services LLC Grows Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Stelac Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 26,858 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 452 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 3.4% of Stelac Advisory Services LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest position. Stelac Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $7,742,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Microsoft by 1.0% during 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 purchasing an additional 6,129,708 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Microsoft by 0.7% during 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 purchasing an additional 1,951,554 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Microsoft by 0.3% during 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 purchasing an additional 556,020 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in 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 valued at $36,017,948,000 after purchasing an additional 150,053,637 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 142,731,177 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $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.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider now owns 588,084 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $198,301,924.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays boosted their price target on Microsoft from $336.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 19th. Mizuho upped their price objective on Microsoft from $360.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 17th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Microsoft from $320.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 20th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Microsoft from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 26th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $425.00 to $420.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and thirty-three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $373.68.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $328.66 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.77. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $332.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $308.80. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $213.43 and a fifty-two week high of $366.78. The company has a market cap of $2.44 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.92, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 25th. The software giant reported $2.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.14. Microsoft had a return on equity of 38.70% and a net margin of 34.15%. The firm had revenue of $56.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.49 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.23 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 10.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

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.