DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale Acquires 42,944 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,264,826 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 42,944 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 6.0% of DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,305,344,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 25.7% in the 2nd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 250,657 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $112,031,000 after purchasing an additional 51,273 shares during the period. Ullmann Wealth Partners Group LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 4.9% in the second quarter. Ullmann Wealth Partners Group LLC now owns 12,325 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,509,000 after buying an additional 579 shares during the period. Stonebridge Financial Planning Group LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 16.7% during the second quarter. Stonebridge Financial Planning Group LLC now owns 5,327 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,381,000 after acquiring an additional 762 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its holdings in Microsoft by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 718,126 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $320,966,000 after acquiring an additional 7,547 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Alternatives Inc raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 15.3% in the 2nd quarter. Financial Alternatives Inc now owns 679 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $303,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 50,000 shares in the company, valued at $20,552,000. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total value of $1,027,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 50,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,552,000. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 17,378 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.85, for a total transaction of $7,157,129.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 150,161 shares in the company, valued at approximately $61,843,807.85. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT opened at $431.95 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.21 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.57, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $420.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $424.65. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $331.83 and a twelve month high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its 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 net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 35.95%. The business had revenue of $64.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.38 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.69 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.02 EPS for the current year.

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

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business 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. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.77%. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 28.11%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on MSFT shares. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Microsoft from $470.00 to $495.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Argus raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $526.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $502.97.

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.