Altrius Capital Management Inc Acquires 220 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Altrius Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 30.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 935 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 220 shares during the period. Altrius Capital Management Inc’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $418,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 169.2% in the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. Richardson Capital Management LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 1,290.0% during the 1st quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $75,000. Bellevue Group AG lifted its position in Microsoft by 47.5% in the first quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 180 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 36.8% during the first quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 305 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $128,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $408.46 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.04 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.91. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $353.35 and a 1-year high of $468.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $420.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $424.74.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The business had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.99 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.98 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the software giant to reacquire up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total transaction of $1,027,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 50,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,552,000. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total value of $32,017,386.39. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 864,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $353,189,942.01. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total value of $1,027,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 50,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,552,000. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 190,629 shares of company stock worth $77,916,485. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on MSFT. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Oppenheimer cut shares of Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. DA Davidson lowered Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twenty-six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $503.03.

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.