Microsoft Corporation $MSFT is Avenir Corp’s Largest Position

Avenir Corp lessened its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 265,587 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 4,763 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 13.6% of Avenir Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Avenir Corp’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $132,106,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 51.3% during the 2nd quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Bulwark Capital Corp acquired a new position in Microsoft during the second quarter worth $32,000. Westend Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 386.7% during the second quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $44,000. Finally, University of Illinois Foundation acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the second quarter valued at $50,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, October 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $630.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $650.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, October 30th. 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. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $632.34.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $478.53 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $555.45. 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 business has a 50 day moving average price of $504.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $502.05. The company has a market capitalization of $3.56 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.07.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.65 by $0.48. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.45% and a net margin of 35.71%.The firm had revenue of $77.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $75.49 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.30 EPS. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal 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 paid a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 25.89%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 38,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $518.64, for a total value of $19,967,640.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 461,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $239,402,668.08. The trade was a 7.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 2,850 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.72, for a total transaction of $1,364,352.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 55,782 shares in the company, valued at $26,703,959.04. The trade was a 4.86% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 54,100 shares of company stock valued at $27,598,872. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.