Van ECK Associates Corp Boosts Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 922,140 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,521 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $412,150,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MSFT. Equita Financial Network Inc. raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 42.4% in the 2nd quarter. Equita Financial Network Inc. now owns 1,434 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $641,000 after buying an additional 427 shares during the period. First National Bank Sioux Falls increased its stake in Microsoft by 0.4% during the second quarter. First National Bank Sioux Falls now owns 6,340 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,834,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 13.4% in the 2nd quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 50,491 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $22,567,000 after purchasing an additional 5,984 shares during the period. Catalytic Wealth RIA LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter. Catalytic Wealth RIA LLC now owns 73,772 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $32,972,000 after purchasing an additional 2,935 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Anfield Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 29.8% during the second quarter. Anfield Capital Management LLC now owns 1,269 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $567,000 after buying an additional 291 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $410.55, for a total value of $15,600,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 496,369 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $203,784,292.95. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was 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 directly owns 496,369 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $203,784,292.95. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 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 transaction, the insider now owns 544,847 shares in the company, valued at $219,349,953.73. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.1 %

Microsoft stock opened at $416.32 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $324.39 and a 12-month high of $468.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.09 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.90. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $417.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $424.63. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $64.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.38 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.69 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.80%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 25.40%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Oppenheimer lowered Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Microsoft from $520.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $506.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $520.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $493.47.

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.