Point72 Italy S.r.l. Buys 16,466 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Point72 Italy S.r.l. boosted its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 140.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 28,193 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,466 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 5.5% of Point72 Italy S.r.l.’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Point72 Italy S.r.l.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $12,601,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fred Alger Management LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 1.0% during the second quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 4,927,271 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,202,244,000 after purchasing an additional 47,066 shares during the period. Lone Pine Capital LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 2,020,205 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $902,931,000 after buying an additional 90,287 shares during the period. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 6.2% during the 2nd quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 1,818,784 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $812,906,000 after buying an additional 105,479 shares in the last quarter. Wescott Financial Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 93.9% during the 2nd quarter. Wescott Financial Advisory Group LLC now owns 7,709 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,446,000 after buying an additional 3,733 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal Capital Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 3.0% in the second quarter. Royal Capital Wealth Management LLC now owns 21,228 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $9,488,000 after acquiring an additional 627 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $422.54 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $421.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $425.07. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a market cap of $3.14 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.91. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $360.36 and a 52-week high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The business had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.99 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 12.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

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

Microsoft announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the software giant to reacquire up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MSFT. Oppenheimer cut Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. TD Cowen reduced their price target on Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. 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. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, October 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twenty-six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $503.03.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total value of $1,027,600.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 50,000 shares in the company, valued at $20,552,000. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total value of $1,027,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 50,000 shares in the company, valued at $20,552,000. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total transaction of $6,009,869.18. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 786,933 shares in the company, valued at $328,473,703.53. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.