Klingman & Associates LLC Buys 861 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Klingman & Associates LLC lifted its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 27,771 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 861 shares during the quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $12,412,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Microsoft by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 664,908,939 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $250,032,357,000 after acquiring an additional 15,701,937 shares during the period. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the 1st quarter worth $5,587,119,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 77.6% during the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 6,281,925 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,642,931,000 after purchasing an additional 2,744,900 shares during the period. Global Assets Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the first quarter valued at about $989,814,000. Finally, M&G Plc acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $846,072,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $410.55, for a total transaction of $15,600,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 496,369 shares in the company, valued at $203,784,292.95. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total transaction of $16,103,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 544,847 shares in the company, valued at $219,349,953.73. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $410.55, for a total value of $15,600,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 496,369 shares in the company, valued at approximately $203,784,292.95. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 190,629 shares of company stock worth $77,916,485. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $415.84 on Friday. 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 firm has a market cap of $3.09 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.90. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $417.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $424.74. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $324.39 and a one year high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 EPS 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 business had revenue of $64.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.38 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.69 earnings per share. Microsoft’s revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the software giant to purchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 0.80%. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 28.74%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Microsoft from $520.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Tigress Financial increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Microsoft from $465.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $493.47.

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.