Summit Trail Advisors LLC Buys 15,387 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Summit Trail Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 29.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 67,171 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,387 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 0.9% of Summit Trail Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Summit Trail Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $22,874,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 112,158.6% in 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 acquiring an additional 150,053,637 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $20,700,525,000. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 35,465.9% in the first quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 20,611,140 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $66,852,000 after acquiring an additional 20,553,188 shares in the last quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 29,789.2% in the first quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 16,570,893 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $57,477,000 after acquiring an additional 16,515,452 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 14.0% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 119,417,954 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $28,638,815,000 after acquiring an additional 14,652,150 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.20% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $329.81 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $326.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $324.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.45 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.66. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $213.43 and a fifty-two week high of $366.78.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 24th. The software giant reported $2.99 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.65 by $0.34. Microsoft had a return on equity of 38.79% and a net margin of 35.31%. The business had revenue of $56.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $54.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.35 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 11.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 16th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 15th. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 26.33%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now owns 588,084 shares in the company, valued at approximately $198,301,924.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now owns 588,084 shares in the company, valued at approximately $198,301,924.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 26,815 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $327.37, for a total value of $8,778,426.55. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 198,373 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,941,369.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 115,049 shares of company stock worth $38,195,619. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on MSFT. StockNews.com began coverage on Microsoft in a report on Thursday, October 5th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Microsoft from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 26th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Microsoft from $330.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 19th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Microsoft from $320.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 20th. Finally, Argus lifted their target price on Microsoft from $371.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $384.34.

Microsoft Company 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.