Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Farallon Capital Management LLC’s 7th Largest Position

Farallon Capital Management LLC trimmed its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,202,778 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 8,680 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 2.5% of Farallon Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. Farallon Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $537,582,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in Microsoft during the first quarter worth approximately $5,587,119,000. Wulff Hansen & CO. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 47,196.6% in the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 4,834,658 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,160,850,000 after purchasing an additional 4,824,436 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 667,987,038 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $281,035,506,000 after purchasing an additional 3,078,099 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its position in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, M&G Plc purchased a new position in Microsoft in the first quarter valued at approximately $846,072,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The shares were 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 approximately $219,349,953.73. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 864,327 shares in the company, valued at $353,189,942.01. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 190,629 shares of company stock worth $77,916,485. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the subject of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Bank of America raised their target price on Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $470.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $503.03.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $422.54 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.14 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.91. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $360.36 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $421.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $424.95.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.99 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 12.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.79%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 24.75%.

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.