Ensign Peak Advisors Inc Increases Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc raised its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 4.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,978,904 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 290,515 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 5.9% of Ensign Peak Advisors Inc’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc owned 0.09% of Microsoft worth $3,471,377,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Microsoft by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 705,077,786 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $350,712,742,000 after purchasing an additional 13,691,572 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 179,001,751 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $88,714,256,000 after purchasing an additional 3,532,054 shares in the last quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 564,387.1% during the second quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 90,549,369 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $45,040,162,000 after purchasing an additional 90,533,328 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Microsoft by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $35,316,535,000 after buying an additional 11,600,470 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 3.8% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 62,267,822 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $23,374,718,000 after buying an additional 2,306,485 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 2,850 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.72, for a total value of $1,364,352.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 55,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,703,959.04. This represents a 4.86% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 38,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $518.64, for a total transaction of $19,967,640.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 461,597 shares in the company, valued at $239,402,668.08. The trade was a 7.70% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 54,100 shares of company stock worth $27,598,872 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $492.02 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $506.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $502.14. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $555.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.66 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.07.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.65 by $0.48. The company had revenue of $77.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $75.49 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.45% and a net margin of 35.71%.The firm’s revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.30 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 19th will be given a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.89%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MSFT. Robert W. Baird initiated coverage on Microsoft in a report on Friday, November 14th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $600.00 price target on the stock. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Daiwa Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Microsoft from $640.00 to $630.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 7th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Arete Research boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $710.00 to $730.00 in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $632.34.

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.