Conning Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Conning Inc. raised its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 60,831 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 1,103 shares during the quarter. Conning Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $26,176,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MSFT. WFA Asset Management Corp grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 27.0% during the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $427,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 12.5% during the 2nd quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 15,830 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $7,075,000 after purchasing an additional 1,759 shares during the last quarter. Ignite Planners LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Ignite Planners LLC now owns 23,697 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $11,080,000 after purchasing an additional 211 shares in the last quarter. Carr Financial Group Corp raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.9% in the second quarter. Carr Financial Group Corp now owns 12,802 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,722,000 after buying an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Williams & Novak LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.2% during the second quarter. Williams & Novak LLC now owns 2,803 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,253,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total transaction of $3,050,352.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 103,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,792,039.56. This represents a 6.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total transaction of $414,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 57,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. This represents a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $418.58 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $428.83 and a two-hundred day moving average of $428.45. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $366.50 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.11 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.30.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The firm had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.99 EPS. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 27.39%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on MSFT. KeyCorp upped their target price on Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Mizuho lifted their target price on Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $509.90.

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.