Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stake Boosted by Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt

Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt raised its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 45.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 278,392 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 87,377 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 6.4% of Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $119,722,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 169.2% during the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter valued at approximately $75,000. Bellevue Group AG raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 47.5% during the first quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 180 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $76,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 241.4% during the second quarter. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC now owns 379 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $169,000 after buying an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MSFT. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 18th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $503.03.

Microsoft Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of MSFT opened at $422.99 on Friday. The firm 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. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $362.90 and a 12-month high of $468.35. 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 firm has a fifty day moving average price of $421.07 and a 200-day moving average price of $426.39.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results 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 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 revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.99 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current 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. 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 is 27.39%.

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program 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 programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $219,349,953.73. This represents a 6.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 864,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $353,189,942.01. This trade represents a 8.31 % 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 over the last three months. 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.