NatWest Group plc Raises Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

NatWest Group plc boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 14.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 57,215 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,414 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 10.1% of NatWest Group plc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. NatWest Group plc’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $19,484,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Monumental Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Gleason Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 111.7% during the first quarter. Gleason Group Inc. now owns 199 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the period. Syverson Strege & Co boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 157.0% during the first quarter. Syverson Strege & Co now owns 203 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the period. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 39.0% during the second quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 303 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $103,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the period. Finally, Alapocas Investment Partners Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the first quarter valued at approximately $97,000. 69.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MSFT. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Microsoft from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 25th. Loop Capital began coverage on Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, October 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $425.00 target price for the company. Rosenblatt Securities upped their target price on Microsoft from $370.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 26th. Tigress Financial upped their target price on Microsoft from $411.00 to $433.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Finally, Argus upped their price target on Microsoft from $371.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $384.34.

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $337.31 on Tuesday. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $213.43 and a one year high of $366.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a current ratio of 1.66. The firm has a market cap of $2.51 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.65, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.91. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $326.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $325.31.

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

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 16th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 15th. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.89%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.04%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 38,234 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $328.43, for a total value of $12,557,192.62. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 800,668 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $262,963,391.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 26,815 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 38,234 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $328.43, for a total transaction of $12,557,192.62. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 800,668 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $262,963,391.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.