Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Holdings Lessened by Ninety One North America Inc.

Posted by Defense World Staff on Oct 13th, 2023

Ninety One North America Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report) by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 544,167 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 3,818 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 7.9% of Ninety One North America Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Ninety One North America Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $185,311,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. DGS Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 19.9% during the 1st quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 14,342 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,422,000 after purchasing an additional 2,383 shares during the last quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd grew its stake in Microsoft by 20.8% in the 1st quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 1,138,469 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $351,001,000 after acquiring an additional 196,338 shares in the last quarter. Altus Wealth Group LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Altus Wealth Group LLC now owns 12,712 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,919,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Powell Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 16.2% in the 1st quarter. Powell Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,578 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $795,000 after acquiring an additional 359 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 8.2% in the 1st quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC now owns 6,782 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,921,000 after acquiring an additional 512 shares in the last quarter. 69.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.4 %

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $331.16 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.46 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.18, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.91. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $213.43 and a 1-year high of $366.78. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $324.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $320.90. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 25th. The software giant reported $2.69 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $56.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.49 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 34.15% and a return on equity of 38.70%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.23 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 10.9 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 16th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 15th. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.07%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Guggenheim upgraded shares of Microsoft from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 25th. UBS Group raised shares of Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $345.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Friday, July 14th. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $360.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 17th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $320.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 20th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $340.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 18th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $376.34.

Read Our Latest Research Report on MSFT

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 38,234 shares of Microsoft 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 800,668 shares in the company, valued at $262,963,391.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 38,234 shares of Microsoft 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 800,668 shares in the company, valued at $262,963,391.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 26,815 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 1st. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $64,941,369.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 115,049 shares of company stock worth $38,195,619. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.