Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Kranot Hishtalmut Le Morim Ve Gananot Havera Menahelet LTD’s 10th Largest Position

Kranot Hishtalmut Le Morim Ve Gananot Havera Menahelet LTD lowered its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 21.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 89,776 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 24,690 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 2.1% of Kranot Hishtalmut Le Morim Ve Gananot Havera Menahelet LTD’s holdings, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Kranot Hishtalmut Le Morim Ve Gananot Havera Menahelet LTD’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $25,501,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Monumental Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. PayPay Securities Corp purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $54,000. Gleason Group Inc. grew its position in Microsoft by 111.7% during the 1st quarter. Gleason Group Inc. now owns 199 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Syverson Strege & Co grew its position in Microsoft by 157.0% during the 1st quarter. Syverson Strege & Co now owns 203 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MayTech Global Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $83,000. Institutional investors own 69.20% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.3 %

MSFT opened at $328.66 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.44 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.90. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $332.77 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $308.06. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $213.43 and a 1-year high of $366.78. 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) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 38.70% and a net margin of 34.15%. The company had revenue of $56.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.49 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.23 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 10.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.68 per share. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 16th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.07%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on MSFT. Fundamental Research set a $298.10 target price on shares of Microsoft and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 9th. DA Davidson boosted their price target on Microsoft from $350.00 to $415.00 in a research note on Friday, July 21st. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on Microsoft from $411.00 to $433.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $350.00 to $390.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 26th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $336.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and thirty-three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $373.68.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 50,000 shares of Microsoft 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 directly owns 588,084 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $198,301,924.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Microsoft

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.