Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Position Trimmed by Sonnipe Ltd

Sonnipe Ltd trimmed its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 31.0% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 12,220 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 5,497 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 0.6% of Sonnipe Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Sonnipe Ltd’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $5,462,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MSFT. Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter valued at approximately $145,226,000. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 59.6% during the 2nd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 405,134 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $181,075,000 after acquiring an additional 151,231 shares during the last quarter. Total Clarity Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter. Total Clarity Wealth Management Inc. now owns 13,913 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $6,219,000 after acquiring an additional 484 shares during the period. Grunden Financial Advisory Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at $203,000. Finally, Menard Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 3.3% in the second quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 11,301 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,051,000 after purchasing an additional 360 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Mizuho boosted their price target on Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $503.03.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total transaction of $6,009,869.18. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 786,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total value of $6,009,869.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 786,933 shares in the company, valued at $328,473,703.53. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief marketing officer now 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. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 190,629 shares of company stock worth $77,916,485. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $410.37 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $344.77 and a 12-month high of $468.35. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $420.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $424.62. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company has a market cap of $3.05 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.86, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.91.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.08 by $0.22. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.99 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 12.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 0.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

Microsoft declared that its board has initiated a share 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 a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.