Levin Capital Strategies L.P. Has $48.61 Million Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Levin Capital Strategies L.P. lowered its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 142,750 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,829 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 5.5% of Levin Capital Strategies L.P.’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Levin Capital Strategies L.P.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $48,612,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MSFT. Monumental Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. Syverson Strege & Co raised its stake in Microsoft by 157.0% in the first quarter. Syverson Strege & Co now owns 203 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the period. MayTech Global Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $83,000. Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 57.5% in the third quarter. Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. now owns 411 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $95,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alapocas Investment Partners Inc. bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 1st quarter worth approximately $97,000. 69.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 38,234 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 800,668 shares in the company, valued at approximately $262,963,391.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 38,234 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $328.43, for a total value of $12,557,192.62. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 800,668 shares in the company, valued at approximately $262,963,391.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 26,815 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly 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. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $369.67 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $334.54 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $330.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.75 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.88. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $219.35 and a twelve month high of $373.13. The company has a quick ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 24th. The software giant reported $2.99 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.65 by $0.34. The company had revenue of $56.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $54.52 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 38.79% and a net margin of 35.31%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.35 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 11.13 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.81%. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on MSFT. Fundamental Research set a $298.10 price objective on Microsoft and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 9th. HSBC upgraded Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $347.00 to $413.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 26th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $430.00 to $432.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 26th. Guggenheim upgraded shares of Microsoft from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 25th. Finally, DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $415.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, October 16th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $384.45.

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.