Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Acquired by Value Partners Investments Inc.

Value Partners Investments Inc. increased its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 51,719 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 977 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 0.6% of Value Partners Investments Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Value Partners Investments Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $22,255,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its holdings in Microsoft by 169.2% in the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter valued at $45,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $75,000. Bellevue Group AG lifted its position in Microsoft by 47.5% in the 1st quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 180 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $76,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 241.4% in the second quarter. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC now owns 379 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $169,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.6 %

MSFT opened at $415.49 on Thursday. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $362.90 and a twelve month high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.30. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $422.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $426.13. The firm has a market cap of $3.09 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.91.

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

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.80%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

Microsoft announced that its board has approved a share 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 buy up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Oppenheimer cut shares of Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 10th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. KeyCorp boosted their price target on Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price objective 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $503.03.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of Microsoft 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 496,369 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $203,784,292.95. The trade was a 7.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total transaction of $6,009,869.18. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 786,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. This trade represents a 1.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 197,829 shares of company stock worth $80,966,837 over the last quarter. 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.