Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Ninety One SA PTY Ltd

Ninety One SA PTY Ltd trimmed its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 4.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 144,901 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 7,022 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 10.1% of Ninety One SA PTY Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Ninety One SA PTY Ltd’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $65,391,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Richardson Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1,290.0% during the first quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares during the period. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth about $58,000. Bellevue Group AG lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 47.5% during the 1st quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 180 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Horizon Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft in the first quarter valued at about $80,000. Finally, Cooksen Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $86,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT opened at $435.27 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $420.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $424.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a market cap of $3.24 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.69, a P/E/G 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.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced 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. Microsoft had a return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 35.96%. The company had revenue of $64.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.38 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.69 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders 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 represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.76%. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 25.97%.

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the software giant to reacquire up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on MSFT. UBS Group reduced their target price on Microsoft from $520.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Mizuho increased their target price on Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 13th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $485.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $495.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $494.72.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 544,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $219,349,953.73. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 544,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $219,349,953.73. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 17,378 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.85, for a total value of $7,157,129.30. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 150,161 shares in the company, valued at approximately $61,843,807.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.