Ninety One North America Inc. lessened its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Rating) by 11.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 544,621 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 68,720 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 6.4% of Ninety One North America Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Ninety One North America Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $130,611,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.
A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.0% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 634,238,715 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $147,714,197,000 after purchasing an additional 6,129,708 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Microsoft by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 295,509,547 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $68,824,173,000 after acquiring an additional 1,951,554 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Microsoft by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 195,859,819 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $50,302,677,000 after acquiring an additional 556,020 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 49,440,386 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $11,514,665,000 after acquiring an additional 208,765 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 40,345,546 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,396,477,000 after purchasing an additional 215,103 shares during the last quarter. 69.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 4,767 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.88, for a total transaction of $1,186,410.96. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 788,625 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $196,272,990. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 4,767 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.88, for a total transaction of $1,186,410.96. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 788,625 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $196,272,990. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.09, for a total value of $9,182,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 117,456 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,952,107.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 54,848 shares of company stock valued at $16,635,227. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
Microsoft Price Performance
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.22 by $0.23. Microsoft had a return on equity of 38.98% and a net margin of 33.25%. The firm had revenue of $52.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $51.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.22 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 9.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Microsoft Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 18th will be given a $0.68 dividend. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 17th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.47%.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of research firms recently weighed in on MSFT. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $316.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 20th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Microsoft from $320.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 26th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 18th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Moffett Nathanson upped their price objective on Microsoft from $263.00 to $306.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 26th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and thirty-two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $323.69.
Microsoft Profile
Microsoft Corp. engages in the development and support of software, services, devices, and solutions. It operates through the following business segments: Productivity and Business Processes, Intelligent Cloud, and More Personal Computing. The Productivity and Business Processes segment consists of Office Commercial (Office 365 subscriptions, the Office 365 portion of Microsoft 365 Commercial subscriptions, and Office licensed on-premises), Exchange, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, Office 365 Security and Compliance, and Skype for Business, Office Consumer, including Microsoft 365 Consumer subscriptions, Office licensed on-premises, and other Office services, LinkedIn, including Talent Solutions, Marketing Solutions, Premium Subscriptions, Sales Solutions, and Learning Solutions, Dynamics business solutions, including Dynamics 365, comprising a set of intelligent, cloud-based applications across ERP, CRM, Customer Insights, Power Apps, and Power Automate, and on-premises ERP and CRM applications.
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