Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd

ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd lessened its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 33.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 284,001 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 140,850 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 4.6% of ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest position. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $126,934,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 667,987,038 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $281,035,506,000 after buying an additional 3,078,099 shares during the period. Capital International Investors raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.0% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 83,571,070 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $35,160,020,000 after purchasing an additional 842,884 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% during the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 14,738,956 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $6,587,576,000 after purchasing an additional 45,220 shares during the period. Swedbank AB raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.7% during the second quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 13,640,068 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $6,096,428,000 after purchasing an additional 360,171 shares during the period. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 15.6% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 11,931,721 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,019,942,000 after purchasing an additional 1,613,050 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was 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 owns 50,000 shares in the company, valued at $20,552,000. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was 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 owns 50,000 shares in the company, valued at $20,552,000. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 496,369 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $203,784,292.95. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 190,629 shares of company stock worth $77,916,485. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Microsoft from $465.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday. Bank of America boosted their target price on Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Mizuho upped their price target on Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $495.68.

Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT opened at $418.16 on Friday. 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. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $419.66 and a 200-day moving average of $424.51. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $324.39 and a 52-week high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.27.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released 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 company had revenue of $64.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.38 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 35.96%. The firm’s revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.69 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to buyback $60.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the software giant to reacquire up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

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

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.