Axa S.A. Has $1.92 Billion Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Axa S.A. raised its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,306,261 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 74,731 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 5.7% of Axa S.A.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Axa S.A. owned 0.06% of Microsoft worth $1,924,683,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 5.4% during the 2nd quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,578 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $705,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. AlTi Global Inc. increased its stake in Microsoft by 2.1% in the second quarter. AlTi Global Inc. now owns 103,617 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $46,312,000 after purchasing an additional 2,149 shares during the period. Albar Capital Ltd lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 14.3% during the second quarter. Albar Capital Ltd now owns 136,211 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $60,880,000 after purchasing an additional 17,021 shares during the last quarter. Alight Capital Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 17.3% during the second quarter. Alight Capital Management LP now owns 58,643 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $26,210,000 after purchasing an additional 8,643 shares during the period. Finally, Wick Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter worth about $1,360,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $410.55, for a total transaction of $15,600,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 496,369 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $203,784,292.95. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Microsoft news, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $418.01 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $362.90 and a 12-month high of $468.35. The business has a 50 day moving average of $421.09 and a two-hundred day moving average of $425.19. The company has a market capitalization of $3.11 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.49, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.91.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The firm had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.99 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 12.94 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft declared that its board has authorized 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 purchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.39%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. DA Davidson lowered Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $503.03.

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.