Stablepoint Partners LLC Has $10.18 Million Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Stablepoint Partners LLC lessened its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 6.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,862 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,658 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 1.7% of Stablepoint Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Stablepoint Partners LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $10,183,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pursue Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 9.0% in the 2nd quarter. Pursue Wealth Partners LLC now owns 30,940 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $13,829,000 after acquiring an additional 2,556 shares during the last quarter. GPM Growth Investors Inc. acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at about $20,935,000. PACK Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at about $220,000. New World Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. New World Advisors LLC now owns 7,006 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,131,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Markel Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 507,480 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $226,818,000 after acquiring an additional 4,650 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on MSFT shares. UBS Group reduced 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. DA Davidson lowered shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $506.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $485.00 to $470.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $495.68.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total value of $1,027,600.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 50,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,552,000. 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 hyperlink. In related 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 transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $410.55, for a total value of $15,600,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 496,369 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $203,784,292.95. This trade 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 worth $77,916,485. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $418.16 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $324.39 and a 12 month high of $468.35. 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $419.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $424.49. The company has a market cap of $3.11 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.38 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.69 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.02 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.79%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.74%.

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $60.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the software giant to repurchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.