Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stake Boosted by Alight Capital Management LP

Alight Capital Management LP raised its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 17.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 58,643 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,643 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 6.4% of Alight Capital Management LP’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Alight Capital Management LP’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $26,210,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Microsoft by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 667,987,038 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $281,035,506,000 after acquiring an additional 3,078,099 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.0% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 83,571,070 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $35,160,020,000 after purchasing an additional 842,884 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 6.9% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 24,091,789 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $10,768,771,000 after acquiring an additional 1,563,533 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 14,738,956 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $6,587,576,000 after purchasing an additional 45,220 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 2.7% in the second quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 13,640,068 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $6,096,428,000 after acquiring an additional 360,171 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price target on Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, October 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twenty-six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $503.03.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $418.01 on Tuesday. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $362.90 and a 12-month high of $468.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.11 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.91. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $421.09 and its 200-day moving average is $425.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.29.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. Microsoft’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.99 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

Microsoft declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the software giant to reacquire up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 50,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,552,000. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 50,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,552,000. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total value of $6,009,869.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 786,933 shares in the company, valued at $328,473,703.53. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 190,629 shares of company stock worth $77,916,485. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.