Mark Asset Management LP Grows Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Mark Asset Management LP grew its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.3% 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 83,351 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 256 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 3.7% of Mark Asset Management LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Mark Asset Management LP’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $37,254,000 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. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp boosted its stake in Microsoft by 1.6% during the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 1,975,200 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $882,816,000 after buying an additional 31,401 shares during the period. New Harbor Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 55.9% during the second quarter. New Harbor Financial Group LLC now owns 1,255 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $561,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc. lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% during the second quarter. Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc. now owns 430,730 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $192,515,000 after purchasing an additional 8,290 shares during the last quarter. Quest Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 3.4% during the second quarter. Quest Investment Management LLC now owns 156,258 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $69,840,000 after purchasing an additional 5,176 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 25.7% during the second quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 250,657 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $112,031,000 after purchasing an additional 51,273 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 18th. DA Davidson downgraded Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, September 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $503.03.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total transaction of $3,050,352.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 103,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,792,039.56. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Microsoft news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total value of $3,050,352.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total value of $16,103,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 544,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $219,349,953.73. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 197,829 shares of company stock valued at $80,966,837 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT stock opened at $423.03 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.29. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $362.90 and a 1 year high of $468.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.15 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.91. The business’s 50-day moving average is $421.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $425.32.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 last year, the company earned $2.99 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.78%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 27.39%.

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors 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 purchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.