Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Position Increased by Hendershot Investments Inc.

Hendershot Investments Inc. increased its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 56,336 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 947 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 3.3% of Hendershot Investments Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Hendershot Investments Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $21,184,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 89.0% in the third quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 223 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the period. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the third quarter worth $87,000. Family CFO Inc grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 13.6% in the third quarter. Family CFO Inc now owns 359 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $113,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Cordant Inc. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 647.8% in the fourth quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 344 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $129,000 after acquiring an additional 298 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $146,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total transaction of $8,868,941.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $64,538,265.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Microsoft news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total value of $1,950,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,677,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,770,926.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total transaction of $8,868,941.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $64,538,265.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Trading Up 1.7 %

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $413.54 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.07 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.89. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $306.09 and a 52-week high of $430.82. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $413.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $391.46. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $61.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.86 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.43% and a return on equity of 37.54%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.45 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 11.76 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.73%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.97%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on MSFT shares. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $421.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $455.00 to $465.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $455.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $452.61.

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.