Kings Path Partners LLC Makes New $223,000 Investment in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 500 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $223,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 37,612 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $14,144,000 after buying an additional 620 shares during the period. Rathbones Group PLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 3,027,214 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,138,354,000 after acquiring an additional 43,152 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in Microsoft by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 11,416,509 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,293,064,000 after acquiring an additional 104,263 shares during the period. Ratio Wealth Group lifted its stake in Microsoft by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Ratio Wealth Group now owns 3,915 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,472,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the period. Finally, APG Asset Management US Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $132,884,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 496,369 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $203,784,292.95. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total transaction of $1,027,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 50,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,552,000. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $410.55, for a total value of $15,600,900.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 496,369 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $203,784,292.95. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $414.71 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.27. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $323.18 and a 1 year high of $468.35. The company’s 50-day moving average is $417.97 and its 200 day moving average is $424.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.08 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.90.

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

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

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.80%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.74%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MSFT. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Microsoft from $465.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Tigress Financial increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on Microsoft from $520.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $493.94.

Microsoft Company 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.