Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Purchased by Kingfisher Capital LLC

Kingfisher Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 25,798 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 2.7% of Kingfisher Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Kingfisher Capital LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $11,531,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. ELCO Management Co. LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. ELCO Management Co. LLC now owns 13,192 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,896,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Europe London LLP increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 35.9% during the 2nd quarter. Point72 Europe London LLP now owns 101,040 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $45,160,000 after acquiring an additional 26,700 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Italy S.r.l. raised its stake in Microsoft by 140.4% in the 2nd quarter. Point72 Italy S.r.l. now owns 28,193 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $12,601,000 after acquiring an additional 16,466 shares during the period. Fred Alger Management LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 4,927,271 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,202,244,000 after purchasing an additional 47,066 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lone Pine Capital LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 4.7% during the second quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 2,020,205 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $902,931,000 after purchasing an additional 90,287 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $422.54 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $421.09 and its 200 day moving average is $425.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.14 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.91. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $360.36 and a 1 year high of $468.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The firm had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.99 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 12.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to buyback $60.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the software giant to reacquire up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.39%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $410.55, for a total value of $15,600,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 496,369 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $203,784,292.95. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $410.55, for a total value of $15,600,900.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 496,369 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $203,784,292.95. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total value of $16,103,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 544,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $219,349,953.73. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MSFT. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $470.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Mizuho upped their target price on Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price target on Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $503.03.

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.