SeaTown Holdings Pte. Ltd. Sells 25,610 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

SeaTown Holdings Pte. Ltd. reduced its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 43.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 33,854 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 25,610 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 11.0% of SeaTown Holdings Pte. Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. SeaTown Holdings Pte. Ltd.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $15,131,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Wesleyan Assurance Society grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 3.6% in the second quarter. Wesleyan Assurance Society now owns 242,400 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $108,297,000 after acquiring an additional 8,350 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG grew its holdings in Microsoft by 7.1% during the second quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 884,733 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $393,957,000 after purchasing an additional 58,386 shares during the period. Pictet North America Advisors SA grew its holdings in Microsoft by 14.2% during the second quarter. Pictet North America Advisors SA now owns 94,130 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $41,914,000 after purchasing an additional 11,720 shares during the period. Beacon Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 1.5% during the second quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 9,117 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,075,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the period. Finally, Waypoint Wealth Partners Inc. grew its holdings in Microsoft by 7.6% during the second quarter. Waypoint Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 2,421 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,082,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.8 %

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $428.02 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.18 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.06, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $309.45 and a 1 year high of $468.35. The business’s 50-day moving average is $419.51 and its 200 day moving average is $424.99.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted 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. The company had revenue of $64.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.38 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 35.96%. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.69 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.78%. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 28.74%.

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the software giant to buy up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on MSFT. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Microsoft from $470.00 to $495.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $485.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. DA Davidson lowered Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Mizuho raised their price target on Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, New Street Research started coverage on Microsoft in a report on Monday, June 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $570.00 price target for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $493.94.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total transaction of $32,017,386.39. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 864,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $353,189,942.01. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $410.55, for a total transaction of $15,600,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 496,369 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $203,784,292.95. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total transaction of $32,017,386.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 864,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $353,189,942.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.