Franchise Capital Ltd Has $15.71 Million Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Franchise Capital Ltd cut its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 60.3% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 35,159 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 53,366 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 3.8% of Franchise Capital Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Franchise Capital Ltd’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $15,714,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Friedenthal Financial purchased a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth $45,000. Richardson Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1,290.0% during the 1st quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at about $58,000. Bellevue Group AG raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 47.5% during the 1st quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 180 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $76,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 23.7% during the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 188 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $71,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $417.14 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $309.45 and a 52 week high of $468.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a market cap of $3.10 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $431.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $422.69.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $64.73 billion during 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 revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.69 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.72%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 25.97%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total value of $101,389.32. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 47,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,534,480.83. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total value of $101,389.32. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 47,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,534,480.83. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total transaction of $6,009,869.18. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 786,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $328,473,703.53. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Microsoft from $520.00 to $506.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Macquarie boosted their target price on Microsoft from $460.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Microsoft from $465.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Microsoft from $470.00 to $495.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $494.72.

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.