Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is CIBC Asset Management Inc’s 2nd Largest Position

CIBC Asset Management Inc reduced its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.2% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,995,660 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 24,708 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 3.2% of CIBC Asset Management Inc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. CIBC Asset Management Inc’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $891,956,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Warren Street Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 16.5% during the 4th quarter. Warren Street Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,767 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,545,000 after purchasing an additional 956 shares during the period. Czech National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% in the first quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 1,307,487 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $550,086,000 after buying an additional 5,253 shares during the last quarter. True Link Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 296.7% during the first quarter. True Link Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,027 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,274,000 after buying an additional 2,264 shares during the period. AMG National Trust Bank increased its holdings in Microsoft by 19.0% during the second quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 81,502 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $36,427,000 after buying an additional 12,994 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Spinnaker Investment Group LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 2.7% in the first quarter. Spinnaker Investment Group LLC now owns 12,521 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,268,000 after acquiring an additional 326 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 786,933 shares in the company, valued at $328,473,703.53. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 544,847 shares in the company, valued at $219,349,953.73. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total value of $6,009,869.18. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 786,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $328,473,703.53. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on MSFT. Wells Fargo & Company upped 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. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Microsoft from $465.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Microsoft from $520.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $506.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $493.47.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $418.74 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $418.79 and its 200-day moving average price is $424.65. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $324.39 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35. The company has a market cap of $3.11 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.90. 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 (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share 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 net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 35.95%. The business’s revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.69 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the software giant to buy up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.79%. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.74%.

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.