Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Institute for Wealth Management LLC.’s 3rd Largest Position

Institute for Wealth Management LLC. raised its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 11.1% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 50,886 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,068 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 3.0% of Institute for Wealth Management LLC.’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Institute for Wealth Management LLC.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $22,744,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,920,047,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 664,908,939 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $250,032,357,000 after purchasing an additional 15,701,937 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the first quarter worth about $5,587,119,000. TCI Fund Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $4,000,376,000. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its stake in Microsoft by 77.6% during the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 6,281,925 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,642,931,000 after acquiring an additional 2,744,900 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Price Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $428.02 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $309.45 and a one year high of $468.35. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $419.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $424.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.18 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.06, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.90.

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

Microsoft announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to buyback $60.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the software giant to reacquire up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This is a positive change 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 yield of 0.78%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.74%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total transaction of $32,017,386.39. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 864,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $353,189,942.01. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total transaction of $32,017,386.39. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 864,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $353,189,942.01. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 496,369 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $203,784,292.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on MSFT shares. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, June 7th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $506.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $493.94.

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.