Intact Investment Management Inc. Has $14.53 Million Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Intact Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 46.4% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 32,500 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,300 shares during the period. Intact Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $14,526,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Rebalance LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 0.7% during the second quarter. Rebalance LLC now owns 3,451 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,542,000 after buying an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Arkansas Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Microsoft by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Arkansas Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,719 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $646,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Partnership Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Partnership Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,202 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,609,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Doheny Asset Management CA boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Doheny Asset Management CA now owns 6,397 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,691,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Flagship Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.8% during the second quarter. Flagship Private Wealth LLC now owns 913 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $408,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the business’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 value of $32,017,386.39. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 864,327 shares in the company, valued at $353,189,942.01. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $219,349,953.73. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 864,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $353,189,942.01. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 190,629 shares of company stock worth $77,916,485. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. UBS Group dropped their price target on Microsoft from $520.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $485.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $493.47.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $415.84 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $417.79 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $424.74. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $324.39 and a 12-month high of $468.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.09 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.90.

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

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the software giant to repurchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 28.74%.

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.