Markel Group Inc. Buys 7,500 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Markel Group Inc. lifted its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 514,980 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 7,500 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 2.0% of Markel Group Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Markel Group Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $221,596,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 169.2% during the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth about $45,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth about $75,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 10.1% in the third quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $145,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MayTech Global Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter worth about $200,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total transaction of $10,425,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 117,294 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,911,598. The trade was a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total transaction of $1,118,525.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 49,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,080,578.32. This represents a 4.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT stock opened at $418.95 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $428.83 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $427.23. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $380.38 and a 1 year high of $468.35. The stock has a market cap of $3.11 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The business had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.99 EPS. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the software giant to purchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.39%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Loop Capital raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. UBS Group lifted their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $525.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. StockNews.com upgraded Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, DA Davidson downgraded shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $511.62.

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.