Eastover Investment Advisors LLC Has $13.14 Million Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Eastover Investment Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 28,604 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 219 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 6.3% of Eastover Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Eastover Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $13,137,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 4.4% during the 2nd quarter. Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC now owns 55,964 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $25,013,000 after purchasing an additional 2,373 shares during the last quarter. Magnolia Capital Management Ltd. raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Magnolia Capital Management Ltd. now owns 6,489 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,900,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Lynx Investment Advisory bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $3,699,000. Trust Co. of Vermont raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 208,676 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $93,268,000 after acquiring an additional 2,384 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Monterey Private Wealth Inc. raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. Monterey Private Wealth Inc. now owns 14,039 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $6,275,000 after acquiring an additional 729 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total transaction of $6,009,869.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 786,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total transaction of $6,009,869.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 786,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total value of $101,389.32. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 47,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,534,480.83. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 14,964 shares of company stock valued at $6,245,404. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Argus increased their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $526.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Tigress Financial increased their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Macquarie increased their target price on Microsoft from $460.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $494.72.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $410.60 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $3.05 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.27. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $433.71 and its 200-day moving average price is $422.83. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $309.45 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $64.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.38 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 35.96%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.69 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.97%.

Microsoft 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.