Liontrust Investment Partners LLP Acquires 465,464 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Liontrust Investment Partners LLP increased its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 231.7% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 666,372 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 465,464 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 4.2% of Liontrust Investment Partners LLP’s holdings, making the stock its largest holding. Liontrust Investment Partners LLP’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $297,835,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MSFT. Callan Family Office LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 195.4% during the 2nd quarter. Callan Family Office LLC now owns 17,119 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $7,651,000 after acquiring an additional 11,323 shares during the period. Shaker Investments LLC OH grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 28.0% during the 2nd quarter. Shaker Investments LLC OH now owns 10,798 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,826,000 after purchasing an additional 2,359 shares in the last quarter. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 3.3% in the second quarter. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC now owns 17,187 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $7,682,000 after purchasing an additional 553 shares during the period. Pegasus Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Microsoft by 2.4% in the second quarter. Pegasus Asset Management Inc. now owns 37,277 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $16,661,000 after purchasing an additional 876 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 0.6% during the second quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 81,329 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $36,350,000 after purchasing an additional 487 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $420.69 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $418.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $425.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.27. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $311.21 and a 52-week high of $468.35. The company has a market capitalization of $3.13 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced 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. Microsoft had a return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 35.96%. The business had revenue of $64.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.38 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.69 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business 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 represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.79%. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 28.74%.

Microsoft announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the software giant to purchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on MSFT shares. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Microsoft from $520.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America upped their target price on Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, June 7th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $520.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Microsoft from $465.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $493.94.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 50,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,552,000. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 17,378 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.85, for a total value of $7,157,129.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 150,161 shares in the company, valued at $61,843,807.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.