Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. Has $17.25 Million Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. grew its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 19.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 50,658 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,190 shares during the period. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $17,251,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.0% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% in the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 112,158.6% in the 4th 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 buying an additional 150,053,637 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.20% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $370.27 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.64. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $333.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $330.55. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $219.35 and a 52-week high of $371.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.75 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.88.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 38.79% and a net margin of 35.31%. The firm had revenue of $56.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $54.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.35 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 11.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 15th. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.04%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Redburn Partners lowered their price target on Microsoft from $450.00 to $440.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 11th. Fundamental Research set a $298.10 target price on Microsoft and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 9th. KeyCorp upped their target price on Microsoft from $340.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 18th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $400.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, October 2nd. Finally, HSBC raised Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $347.00 to $413.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 26th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $384.45.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 198,373 shares in the company, valued at $64,941,369.01. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 38,234 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $328.43, for a total transaction of $12,557,192.62. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 800,668 shares in the company, valued at $262,963,391.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 value of $8,778,426.55. Following 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. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.