Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd Grows Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Oct 15th, 2023

Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd grew its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report) by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,208,042 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 23,682 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 7.4% of Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $411,387,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Good Life Advisors LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 0.6% in the second quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC now owns 54,021 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $18,396,000 after purchasing an additional 311 shares during the last quarter. Carr Financial Group Corp increased its position in Microsoft by 4.0% in the second quarter. Carr Financial Group Corp now owns 10,761 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,665,000 after purchasing an additional 417 shares during the last quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV increased its position in Microsoft by 6.6% in the first quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV now owns 1,518,749 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $437,855,000 after purchasing an additional 94,563 shares during the last quarter. Spinnaker Investment Group LLC increased its position in 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 purchasing an additional 305 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kalos Management Inc. bought a new stake in Microsoft in the first quarter worth $159,000. Institutional investors own 69.20% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $337.20, for a total transaction of $16,860,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 588,084 shares in the company, valued at $198,301,924.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $337.20, for a total transaction of $16,860,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 588,084 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $198,301,924.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 26,815 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 198,373 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,941,369.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 115,049 shares of company stock worth $38,195,619 over the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $310.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 27th. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $350.00 to $415.00 in a research note on Friday, July 21st. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $411.00 to $433.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 2nd. HSBC started coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, September 15th. They set a “hold” rating and a $347.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $360.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 17th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $376.34.

Check Out Our Latest Analysis on Microsoft

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $327.73 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.43 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.77. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $324.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $321.58. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $213.43 and a one year high of $366.78.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 25th. The software giant reported $2.69 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $56.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 period in the previous year, the company posted $2.23 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 10.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 16th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 15th. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.92%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 28.07%.

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.