Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. Boosts Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.3% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 147,977 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 503 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 1.4% of Sumitomo Life Insurance Co.’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $63,664,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Richardson Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1,290.0% in the first quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $58,000. Bellevue Group AG lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 47.5% in the first quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 180 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $76,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Horizon Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the first quarter worth about $80,000. Finally, Cooksen Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $86,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total transaction of $16,103,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 544,847 shares in the company, valued at $219,349,953.73. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total transaction of $16,103,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 544,847 shares in the company, valued at $219,349,953.73. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 17,378 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.85, for a total value of $7,157,129.30. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 150,161 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $61,843,807.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 190,629 shares of company stock worth $77,916,485 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $431.34 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $422.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $423.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.21 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.35, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $309.45 and a 52-week high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $64.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.38 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 35.96%. Microsoft’s revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.69 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on MSFT shares. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. New Street Research assumed coverage on Microsoft in a research note on Monday, June 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $570.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $494.72.

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.