Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Position Lifted by Envestnet Asset Management Inc.

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 10,265,992 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 165,939 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 1.6% of Envestnet Asset Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Envestnet Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $4,588,385,000 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 business. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Microsoft by 15.0% during the 2nd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 686,770 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $306,952,000 after acquiring an additional 89,511 shares in the last quarter. Meridian Management Co. grew its holdings in Microsoft by 5.4% during the 2nd quarter. Meridian Management Co. now owns 2,197 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $982,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Wrapmanager Inc. grew its holdings in Microsoft by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Wrapmanager Inc. now owns 28,474 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $12,727,000 after acquiring an additional 1,042 shares in the last quarter. Allen Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 7.8% during the 2nd quarter. Allen Investment Management LLC now owns 1,976,672 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $883,474,000 after acquiring an additional 143,444 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stolper Co grew its holdings in Microsoft by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Stolper Co now owns 16,344 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $7,305,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were 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 directly owns 786,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $328,473,703.53. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were 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 trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total transaction of $6,009,869.18. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 786,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. This trade represents 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 valued at $77,916,485 in the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. DA Davidson cut shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, September 23rd. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $495.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twenty-six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $502.97.

Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT opened at $432.53 on Thursday. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $334.69 and a 12-month high of $468.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.22 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.90. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $421.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $424.70.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $64.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.38 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 35.95%. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.69 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.02 EPS for the current year.

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

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.77%. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 28.11%.

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.