Marest Capital LLC Buys 37 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Marest Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 16,133 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 6.4% of Marest Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Marest Capital LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $7,211,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth $35,920,047,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 664,908,939 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $250,032,357,000 after acquiring an additional 15,701,937 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in Microsoft during the first quarter worth approximately $5,587,119,000. TCI Fund Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth $4,000,376,000. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 77.6% in the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 6,281,925 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,642,931,000 after buying an additional 2,744,900 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Argus increased their price objective on Microsoft from $475.00 to $526.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Citigroup lowered their target price on Microsoft from $520.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Microsoft from $465.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $494.72.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $435.27 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.27. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $309.45 and a 52-week high of $468.35. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $420.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $424.33. The stock has a market cap of $3.24 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.38 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.69 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 25.97%.

Microsoft announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to buyback $60.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the software giant to buy up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total value of $32,017,386.39. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 864,327 shares in the company, valued at $353,189,942.01. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total transaction of $32,017,386.39. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 864,327 shares in the company, valued at approximately $353,189,942.01. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total value of $1,027,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 50,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,552,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 190,629 shares of company stock worth $77,916,485 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft 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.