Ayalon Insurance Comp Ltd. Decreases Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Ayalon Insurance Comp Ltd. lessened its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,426 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 506 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 2.4% of Ayalon Insurance Comp Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Ayalon Insurance Comp Ltd.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $7,342,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 667,987,038 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $281,035,506,000 after acquiring an additional 3,078,099 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth $35,920,047,000. Capital International Investors lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 83,571,070 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $35,160,020,000 after purchasing an additional 842,884 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 25,381,692 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,544,532,000 after purchasing an additional 403,409 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.7% during the second quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 13,640,068 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $6,096,428,000 after buying an additional 360,171 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on MSFT. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 13th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Microsoft from $520.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $520.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $494.72.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total transaction of $1,027,600.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 50,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,552,000. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total value of $16,103,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 544,847 shares in the company, valued at $219,349,953.73. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total transaction of $1,027,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 50,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,552,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 190,629 shares of company stock worth $77,916,485. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $435.27 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The company has a market cap of $3.24 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.69, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $309.45 and a 1 year high of $468.35. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $420.92 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $424.33.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.05. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 35.95%. The company had revenue of $64.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.38 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.69 earnings per share. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This is an increase 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.76%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.97%.

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

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.