Toronto Dominion Bank Sells 549,901 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Toronto Dominion Bank reduced its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 10.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,922,877 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 549,901 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 3.5% of Toronto Dominion Bank’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Toronto Dominion Bank owned approximately 0.07% of Microsoft worth $2,200,280,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its holdings in Microsoft by 169.2% in the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in Microsoft in the second quarter valued at approximately $75,000. Bellevue Group AG raised its position in Microsoft by 47.5% during 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 in the last quarter. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 241.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC now owns 379 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $169,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MayTech Global Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at $200,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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 dated Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total value of $6,009,869.18. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 786,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $410.55, for a total value of $15,600,900.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 496,369 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $203,784,292.95. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total value 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 trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485 in the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $422.54 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.14 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.91. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $421.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $425.07. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $360.36 and a 12-month high of $468.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.99 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the software giant to purchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 27.39%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Mizuho increased their target price on Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. DA Davidson lowered shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $470.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, October 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $503.03.

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.