Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Bought by Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd.

Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 12.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,550 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 290 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 2.6% of Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,140,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp lifted its position in Microsoft by 7.0% during the second quarter. Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp now owns 22,262 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,950,000 after buying an additional 1,465 shares in the last quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 24,459 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $10,932,000 after purchasing an additional 542 shares during the last quarter. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Microsoft by 6.8% in the second quarter. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 196,071 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $87,634,000 after acquiring an additional 12,489 shares in the last quarter. JPL Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 16.8% during the second quarter. JPL Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,177 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $6,337,000 after purchasing an additional 2,041 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management now owns 9,640 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,309,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $416.32 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $417.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $424.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.09 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $324.39 and a 52 week high of $468.35.

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, equities analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.80%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.40%.

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the software giant to repurchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on MSFT shares. UBS Group cut their target price on Microsoft from $520.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Oppenheimer lowered Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $495.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on Microsoft from $520.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $493.47.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total transaction of $32,017,386.39. Following the transaction, 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 SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total value of $32,017,386.39. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 864,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $353,189,942.01. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at $219,349,953.73. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 owned by corporate insiders.

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.