Ninety One North America Inc. Sells 48,138 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Ninety One North America Inc. lessened its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 11.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 372,076 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 48,138 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 8.4% of Ninety One North America Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Ninety One North America Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $166,299,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $6,593,000. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 222,174 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $99,301,000 after acquiring an additional 3,106 shares during the period. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its stake in Microsoft by 1.2% during the second quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 201,501 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $90,061,000 after acquiring an additional 2,434 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Microsoft by 2.6% in the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 160,735 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $71,841,000 after purchasing an additional 4,136 shares during the period. Finally, Kavar Capital Partners Group LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 1.2% in the second quarter. Kavar Capital Partners Group LLC now owns 40,945 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $18,300,000 after purchasing an additional 498 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.8 %

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $435.27 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $420.92 and its 200 day moving average is $424.03. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $309.45 and a 1 year high of $468.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.24 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.69, a PEG ratio of 2.14 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 1.27.

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

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.76%. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 25.97%.

Microsoft declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the software giant to buy up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Microsoft from $520.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Microsoft from $465.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. New Street Research started coverage on Microsoft in a research report on Monday, June 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $570.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $494.72.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 in the company, valued at $20,552,000. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 50,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,552,000. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total value of $16,103,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 544,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $219,349,953.73. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 190,629 shares of company stock worth $77,916,485. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Company 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.