Bennett Selby Investments LP Raises Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Bennett Selby Investments LP boosted its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,757 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 91 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 3.4% of Bennett Selby Investments LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Bennett Selby Investments LP’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $8,071,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp boosted its stake in Microsoft by 1.6% during the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 1,975,200 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $882,816,000 after buying an additional 31,401 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs & Co. CA increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.9% in the third quarter. Jacobs & Co. CA now owns 96,021 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $41,318,000 after buying an additional 880 shares in the last quarter. New Harbor Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 55.9% during the 2nd quarter. New Harbor Financial Group LLC now owns 1,255 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $561,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc. raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% during the second quarter. Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc. now owns 430,730 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $192,515,000 after purchasing an additional 8,290 shares during the period. Finally, Quest Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 3.4% during the second quarter. Quest Investment Management LLC now owns 156,258 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $69,840,000 after purchasing an additional 5,176 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total value of $3,050,352.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 103,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,792,039.56. This trade represents a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total value of $16,103,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 544,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $219,349,953.73. This trade represents a 6.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 209,431 shares of company stock valued at $85,796,688 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $422.99 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.14 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.91. The business has a 50-day moving average of $421.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $426.39. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $362.90 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35. 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 posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share 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 period in the previous year, the company earned $2.99 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company 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 $0.83 dividend. 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.78%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.39%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on MSFT. DA Davidson downgraded Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Monday, September 23rd. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $503.03.

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.