Welch & Forbes LLC Lowers Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Welch & Forbes LLC decreased its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 914,449 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 3,151 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 4.9% of Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $311,407,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 6,129,708 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 295,509,547 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $68,824,173,000 after buying an additional 1,951,554 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.8% in the first quarter. FMR LLC now owns 200,523,373 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $57,810,889,000 after buying an additional 1,537,712 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted 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 acquiring an additional 556,020 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 112,158.6% during the 4th 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 during the period. 69.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $363.20 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.70 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.16, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.88. The company’s 50-day moving average is $330.83 and its 200-day moving average is $328.22. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $219.35 and a fifty-two week high of $366.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.64.

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

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 15th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.83%. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.33%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 26,815 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $327.37, for a total transaction of $8,778,426.55. Following the transaction, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 38,234 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $328.43, for a total value of $12,557,192.62. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 800,668 shares in the company, valued at $262,963,391.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 26,815 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $327.37, for a total value of $8,778,426.55. Following the transaction, 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. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $390.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, October 25th. Redburn Partners cut their target price on Microsoft from $450.00 to $440.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 11th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Microsoft from $320.00 to $380.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 20th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $400.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, October 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $410.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, October 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $384.34.

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.