Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC Has $12.71 Million Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC trimmed its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 5.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 28,445 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,775 shares during the period. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $12,713,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Microsoft by 0.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 667,987,038 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $281,035,506,000 after purchasing an additional 3,078,099 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,920,047,000. Capital International Investors increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.0% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 83,571,070 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $35,160,020,000 after buying an additional 842,884 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 25,381,692 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $9,544,532,000 after purchasing an additional 403,409 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB boosted its position in Microsoft by 2.7% during the second quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 13,640,068 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $6,096,428,000 after acquiring an additional 360,171 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $430.30 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.20 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.27. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $311.21 and a 52-week high of $468.35. The company has a fifty day moving average of $419.26 and a 200-day moving average of $425.10.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $64.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.38 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 35.96%. The company’s revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.69 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.74%.

Microsoft announced that its board has authorized a share buyback 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MSFT. Argus boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $526.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $485.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on Microsoft from $520.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $493.94.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total transaction of $1,027,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 50,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,552,000. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total transaction of $1,027,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 50,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,552,000. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total transaction of $32,017,386.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 864,327 shares in the company, valued at approximately $353,189,942.01. 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 three months. 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.