Vantage Investment Partners LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Key Points

• Vantage Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 7.7%, owning a total of $36.46 million worth of shares, which makes up 3.1% of their portfolio.
• Microsoft recently reported earnings per share of $3.65, exceeding analyst estimates and reflecting an 18.1% year-over-year revenue growth.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.83, with an ex-dividend date on August 21st, resulting in an annualized yield of 0.65%.

Vantage Investment Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 7.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 97,136 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 6,966 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 3.1% of Vantage Investment Partners LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Vantage Investment Partners LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $36,464,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 6,650 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,496,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. now owns 315,594 shares of the software giant's stock worth $133,023,000 after buying an additional 18,052 shares during the period. 1900 Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,140 shares of the software giant's stock worth $4,274,000 after buying an additional 294 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 7.8% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Services Inc. now owns 17,426 shares of the software giant's stock worth $7,345,000 after buying an additional 1,268 shares during the period. Finally, Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 147.9% in the fourth quarter. Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. now owns 1,748 shares of the software giant's stock worth $737,000 after buying an additional 1,043 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MSFT. UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $650.00 price target (up from $600.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday. Scotiabank increased their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Thursday. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Wedbush raised their price objective on Microsoft from $600.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Benchmark restated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $609.86.

Microsoft Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of Microsoft stock traded down $9.39 during trading on Friday, reaching $524.11. The company's stock had a trading volume of 28,948,527 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,331,950. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company has a market cap of $3.90 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.06. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $555.45. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $488.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $434.13.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.35 by $0.30. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.44% and a net margin of 36.15%. The company had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $73.79 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.95 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Microsoft's payout ratio is currently 24.34%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total value of $5,985,968.43. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 43,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,481,631. The trade was a 23.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total value of $7,330,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 98,010 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $44,906,221.80. This trade represents a 14.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 60,743 shares of company stock worth $27,520,933 in the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.