Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. Cuts Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. lessened its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 6.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 76,628 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 5,634 shares during the quarter. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $34,249,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Flynn Zito Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Flynn Zito Capital Management LLC now owns 10,066 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,785,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. Waterfront Wealth Inc. increased its holdings in Microsoft by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Waterfront Wealth Inc. now owns 14,563 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,476,000 after acquiring an additional 262 shares in the last quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 10.9% during the fourth quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. now owns 31,998 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $12,925,000 after buying an additional 3,146 shares in the last quarter. Arista Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. Arista Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,747 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,409,000 after buying an additional 326 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HF Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 15.9% during the fourth quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC now owns 10,655 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,007,000 after buying an additional 1,458 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.8 %

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $430.59 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.20 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.28, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $309.45 and a 12 month high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $423.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $423.36.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $64.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.38 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 35.95%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.69 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $410.55, for a total transaction of $15,600,900.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 496,369 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $203,784,292.95. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total transaction of $16,103,600.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 544,847 shares in the company, valued at $219,349,953.73. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $410.55, for a total transaction of $15,600,900.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 496,369 shares in the company, valued at $203,784,292.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $520.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $485.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $494.72.

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.