Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd.’s 10th Largest Position

Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. increased its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 34.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 361,377 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 92,093 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 2.7% of Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $161,566,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,920,047,000. Firetrail Investments PTY Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $11,851,000. Brady Family Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Brady Family Wealth LLC now owns 45,141 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $16,975,000 after acquiring an additional 637 shares during the last quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 20.5% during the 4th quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,213 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,208,000 after acquiring an additional 546 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PineStone Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 11.1% during the 4th quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,389,541 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $898,563,000 after acquiring an additional 237,986 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $416.06 on Friday. 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 company has a market cap of $3.09 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.90. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $418.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $425.01. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $314.90 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35.

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

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.80%. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.74%.

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $60.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the software giant to purchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. New Street Research assumed coverage on Microsoft in a research report on Monday, June 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $570.00 target price for the company. Citigroup decreased their price target on Microsoft from $520.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. TD Cowen increased their price target on Microsoft from $470.00 to $495.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $506.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $493.94.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total value of $32,017,386.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 864,327 shares in the company, valued at $353,189,942.01. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total value of $32,017,386.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 864,327 shares in the company, valued at $353,189,942.01. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 496,369 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $203,784,292.95. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 three months. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.