Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stake Raised by Violich Capital Management Inc.

Violich Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 177,731 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 391 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 10.8% of Violich Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Violich Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $66,834,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Albion Financial Group UT raised its holdings in Microsoft by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 138,088 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $51,927,000 after purchasing an additional 1,236 shares during the last quarter. Vivid Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth $4,406,000. Impax Asset Management Group plc boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 3,048,699 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,145,123,000 after buying an additional 67,992 shares in the last quarter. Stiles Financial Services Inc grew its stake in Microsoft by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. Stiles Financial Services Inc now owns 14,510 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,460,000 after acquiring an additional 1,057 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Keener Financial Planning LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,153,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $406.66 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.23. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $413.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $390.88. The company has a market capitalization of $3.02 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.89. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $303.40 and a 12-month high of $430.82.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.13. Microsoft had a return on equity of 37.54% and a net margin of 36.43%. The business had revenue of $61.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.86 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.45 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 11.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.74%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.97%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total value of $8,868,941.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 159,764 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,538,265.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Microsoft news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total transaction of $1,950,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,677,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,770,926.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total transaction of $8,868,941.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $64,538,265.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $480.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. StockNews.com cut Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and issued a $455.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $415.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $452.61.

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.