Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Acquired by Virginia Wealth Management Group Inc.

Virginia Wealth Management Group Inc. lifted its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 17.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 13,014 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 1,954 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 3.5% of Virginia Wealth Management Group Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Virginia Wealth Management Group Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $5,600,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Independence Bank of Kentucky lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 34.4% in the third quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 44,752 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $19,257,000 after buying an additional 11,453 shares during the period. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% in the third quarter. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC now owns 232,665 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $100,116,000 after buying an additional 856 shares during the period. Trevian Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the third quarter valued at about $2,713,000. Worth Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 8.0% in the third quarter. Worth Asset Management LLC now owns 4,219 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,815,000 after buying an additional 312 shares during the period. Finally, Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.5% in the third quarter. Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC now owns 9,723 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,184,000 after buying an additional 238 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on MSFT. Oppenheimer cut shares of Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Wells Fargo & Company restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $503.03.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total value of $32,017,386.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 864,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $353,189,942.01. The trade was a 8.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $410.55, for a total transaction of $15,600,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 496,369 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $203,784,292.95. This trade represents a 7.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 209,431 shares of company stock valued at $85,796,688 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT opened at $422.99 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $421.39 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $426.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.30. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $362.90 and a 52 week high of $468.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.14 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.91.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The firm had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.99 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.78%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 27.39%.

Microsoft announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the software giant to purchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.