Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Rational Advisors LLC

Rational Advisors LLC lowered its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,586 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 94 shares during the quarter. Rational Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $4,731,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $35,920,047,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 664,908,939 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $250,032,357,000 after buying 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 $5,587,119,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 77.6% during the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 6,281,925 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,642,931,000 after acquiring an additional 2,744,900 shares during the period. Finally, Global Assets Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the first quarter valued at $989,814,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT opened at $430.30 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $419.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $425.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.20 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $311.21 and a 12-month high of $468.35.

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

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

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.77%. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 28.74%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 50,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,552,000. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total value of $1,027,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 50,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,552,000. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 786,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MSFT. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $495.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $520.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Mizuho boosted their target price on Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $506.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $493.94.

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.