Markel Group Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Markel Group Inc. grew its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 507,480 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,650 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 2.2% of Markel Group Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position. Markel Group Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $226,818,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its stake in Microsoft by 169.2% in the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. Richardson Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1,290.0% in the 1st quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in Microsoft during the second quarter valued at about $75,000. Bellevue Group AG increased its holdings in Microsoft by 47.5% during the first quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 180 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $76,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Horizon Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft in the first quarter worth about $80,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total transaction of $1,027,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 50,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,552,000. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $219,349,953.73. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 50,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,552,000. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 190,629 shares of company stock worth $77,916,485 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $506.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Microsoft from $520.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, DA Davidson downgraded shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $495.68.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $416.72 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $419.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $424.54. The company has a market cap of $3.10 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $324.39 and a 12-month high of $468.35.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $64.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.38 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 35.95%. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.69 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.74%.

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.