Bollard Group LLC Has $156.72 Million Stake in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Bollard Group LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 12.1% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 315,079 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 34,044 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 3.6% of Bollard Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Bollard Group LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $156,723,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 51.3% in the 2nd quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Bulwark Capital Corp bought a new stake in Microsoft in the second quarter valued at about $32,000. Westend Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 386.7% in the second quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, University of Illinois Foundation bought a new position in Microsoft during the second quarter worth about $50,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $483.47 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $504.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $501.85. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The stock has a market cap of $3.59 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.07. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $77.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $75.49 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.71% and a return on equity of 32.45%. Microsoft’s revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.30 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MSFT. Evercore ISI set a $640.00 target price on Microsoft in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on Microsoft from $637.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Arete Research lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $710.00 to $730.00 in a report on Monday, October 27th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $625.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $632.34.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 12,750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.52, for a total transaction of $6,266,880.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 129,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $63,577,620.48. This trade represents a 8.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 2,850 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.72, for a total value of $1,364,352.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 55,782 shares in the company, valued at $26,703,959.04. This trade represents a 4.86% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 54,100 shares of company stock valued at $27,598,872. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.