Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Holdings Raised by AMF Tjanstepension AB

AMF Tjanstepension AB grew its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 6.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,749,526 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 174,688 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 9.2% of AMF Tjanstepension AB’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. AMF Tjanstepension AB’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,229,050,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,920,047,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 664,908,939 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $250,032,357,000 after purchasing an additional 15,701,937 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 1st quarter worth $5,587,119,000. TCI Fund Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $4,000,376,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 277.8% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 7,004,341 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,633,912,000 after buying an additional 5,150,160 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of Microsoft 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. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total value of $101,389.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 47,011 shares in the company, valued at $19,534,480.83. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 14,964 shares of company stock valued at $6,245,404 in the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.8 %

Microsoft stock opened at $410.60 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $433.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $422.83. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $309.45 and a 1-year high of $468.35. The company has a market cap of $3.05 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.23.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.97%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on MSFT shares. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Microsoft from $470.00 to $495.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Mizuho boosted their target price on Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $520.00 to $506.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Argus increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $526.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $494.72.

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.