Saratoga Research & Investment Management Has $158.22 Million Stock Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Saratoga Research & Investment Management lowered its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 318,079 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 2,979 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 8.5% of Saratoga Research & Investment Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Saratoga Research & Investment Management’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $158,216,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Tull Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 15.4% in the 2nd quarter. Tull Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,846 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $918,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the period. North Dallas Bank & Trust Co. bought a new stake in Microsoft in the second quarter worth approximately $7,188,000. Forefront Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 7.0% in the second quarter. Forefront Wealth Partners LLC now owns 10,246 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,096,000 after buying an additional 672 shares during the period. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $16,886,000. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 33,916 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $16,870,000 after buying an additional 912 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 12,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.52, for a total value of $6,266,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 129,349 shares in the company, valued at $63,577,620.48. This represents a 8.97% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 2,850 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.72, for a total transaction of $1,364,352.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 55,782 shares in the company, valued at $26,703,959.04. The trade was a 4.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 54,100 shares of company stock valued at $27,598,872 in the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT stock opened at $478.53 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.40. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $504.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $502.65. The company has a market capitalization of $3.56 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.07. Microsoft Corporation has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.65 by $0.48. The firm had revenue of $77.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $75.49 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.45% and a net margin of 35.71%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.30 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 25.89%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the topic of a number of research reports. Guggenheim set a $675.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. Rothschild & Co Redburn reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $500.00 price objective (down previously from $560.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Melius Research boosted their target price on Microsoft from $595.00 to $625.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $640.00 price target on Microsoft in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $632.34.

About Microsoft

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.