Intact Investment Management Inc. Buys 10,300 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Intact Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 46.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 32,500 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,300 shares during the quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $14,526,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Bayesian Capital Management LP grew its stake in Microsoft by 60.1% during the fourth quarter. Bayesian Capital Management LP now owns 48,500 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $18,238,000 after acquiring an additional 18,200 shares in the last quarter. Warren Street Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 16.5% in the 4th quarter. Warren Street Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,767 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,545,000 after buying an additional 956 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 1,307,487 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $550,086,000 after buying an additional 5,253 shares in the last quarter. True Link Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 296.7% during the first quarter. True Link Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,027 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,274,000 after acquiring an additional 2,264 shares during the last quarter. Finally, United Advisor Group LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $9,538,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $415.84 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $417.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $424.74. 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 has a market capitalization of $3.09 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $324.39 and a 12-month high of $468.35.

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

Microsoft Increases Dividend

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

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on MSFT. Tigress Financial increased 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. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $520.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Citigroup cut their price objective on Microsoft from $520.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Argus lifted their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $526.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $493.47.

Insider Activity

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total value of $1,027,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 50,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,552,000. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $353,189,942.01. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total value of $1,027,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 50,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,552,000. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 190,629 shares of company stock worth $77,916,485 over the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.