Asset Management Group Inc. Purchases 935 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Asset Management Group Inc. boosted its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 9.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 11,232 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 935 shares during the period. Asset Management Group Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $5,020,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Swedbank AB bought a new position in Microsoft during the 1st quarter valued at $5,587,119,000. Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its stake in Microsoft by 47,196.6% in the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 4,834,658 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,160,850,000 after acquiring an additional 4,824,436 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Microsoft by 0.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 667,987,038 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $281,035,506,000 after purchasing an additional 3,078,099 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 77.6% during the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 6,281,925 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,642,931,000 after buying an additional 2,744,900 shares during the last quarter. Finally, M&G Plc bought a new position in Microsoft during the first quarter worth about $846,072,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, October 18th. TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Oppenheimer downgraded Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their target price on Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $503.03.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total value of $6,009,869.18. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 786,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 17,378 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.85, for a total transaction of $7,157,129.30. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 150,161 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $61,843,807.85. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of MSFT opened at $425.43 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.16 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.29. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $360.36 and a 1 year high of $468.35. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $420.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $424.80.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.99 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 12.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a $0.83 dividend. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

Microsoft announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding 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 usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.