Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd Has $265.17 Million Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd decreased its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 5.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 629,119 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 32,881 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 2.4% of Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $265,174,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% during the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 144.4% in the fourth quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the third quarter worth approximately $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $141,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total transaction of $2,599,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 471,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $204,038,664.12. The trade was a 1.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on MSFT. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Wedbush upped their price objective on Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $507.77.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $438.00 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.26 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $388.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $411.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.94 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 25.66%.

Microsoft Company 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.