Ignite Planners LLC cut its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report) by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 23,736 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 498 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 3.1% of Ignite Planners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Ignite Planners LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $8,004,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Good Life Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.6% during the second quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC now owns 54,021 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $18,396,000 after buying an additional 311 shares during the last quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV now owns 1,518,749 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $437,855,000 after acquiring an additional 94,563 shares during the last quarter. Spinnaker Investment Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.6% in the first quarter. Spinnaker Investment Group LLC now owns 11,951 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,445,000 after acquiring an additional 305 shares during the period. Kalos Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the first quarter valued at approximately $159,000. Finally, Quilter Plc boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Quilter Plc now owns 844,299 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $202,480,000 after purchasing an additional 11,563 shares during the last quarter. 69.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Argus raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $371.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 31st. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $420.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Microsoft from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $390.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on Microsoft from $340.00 to $405.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and thirty-four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $375.03.
Microsoft Stock Down 0.8 %
Shares of MSFT opened at $317.01 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.36 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $213.43 and a 1 year high of $366.78. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $330.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $315.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.77 and a quick ratio of 1.75.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 25th. The software giant reported $2.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.14. Microsoft had a net margin of 34.15% and a return on equity of 38.70%. The firm had revenue of $56.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.49 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.23 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 10.9 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 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 16th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 15th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.95%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 28.07%.
Insider Transactions at Microsoft
In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 26,815 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $327.37, for a total value of $8,778,426.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 198,373 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,941,369.01. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 38,234 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $328.43, for a total value of $12,557,192.62. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 800,668 shares in the company, valued at approximately $262,963,391.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 26,815 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $327.37, for a total transaction of $8,778,426.55. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 198,373 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,941,369.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 115,049 shares of company stock worth $38,195,619. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
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.
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