Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC Has $24.70 Million Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 6.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 55,261 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 3,561 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 1.0% of Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $24,699,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Lummis Asset Management LP increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% during the second quarter. Lummis Asset Management LP now owns 13,247 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,921,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the period. Marathon Capital Management increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 4.1% during the second quarter. Marathon Capital Management now owns 25,533 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $11,412,000 after acquiring an additional 1,014 shares during the period. Mark Asset Management LP increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% during the second quarter. Mark Asset Management LP now owns 83,351 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $37,254,000 after acquiring an additional 256 shares during the period. Matrix Private Capital Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 7.5% during the second quarter. Matrix Private Capital Group LLC now owns 3,691 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,650,000 after acquiring an additional 259 shares during the period. Finally, Maverick Capital Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 226.4% during the second quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 600,004 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $268,172,000 after acquiring an additional 416,173 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was 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 directly owns 864,327 shares in the company, valued at approximately $353,189,942.01. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the company’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 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 $20,552,000. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total value of $32,017,386.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 864,327 shares of the company’s stock, 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 ninety days, insiders sold 197,829 shares of company stock worth $80,966,837. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $423.03 on Wednesday. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $362.90 and a 12 month high of $468.35. The stock has a market cap of $3.15 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $421.11 and its 200-day moving average price is $425.32.

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

Microsoft declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the software giant to repurchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors 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 dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.78%. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.39%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on MSFT shares. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $470.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $503.03.

Microsoft Company 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.