The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Increases Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,250,128 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 217,509 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 3.5% of The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,980,299,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. WFA Asset Management Corp lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 27.0% during the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $427,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. raised its stake in Microsoft by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,658,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. Nicholas Investment Partners LP lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 3.0% during the second quarter. Nicholas Investment Partners LP now owns 39,743 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $17,763,000 after purchasing an additional 1,164 shares during the last quarter. Riversedge Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 4.8% during the second quarter. Riversedge Advisors LLC now owns 6,968 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,114,000 after purchasing an additional 319 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zimmermann Investment Management & Planning LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 1.0% during the second quarter. Zimmermann Investment Management & Planning LLC now owns 8,681 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,880,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MSFT. Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. UBS Group cut their price target on Microsoft from $525.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Loop Capital lifted their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $425.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $510.96.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $415.06 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.09 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $385.58 and a 12 month high of $468.35. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $432.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $424.81.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 34.38%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.93 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 12.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.80%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 26.73%.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total value of $10,425,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,911,598. The trade was a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total transaction of $414,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 57,511 shares in the company, valued at $23,850,961.92. This represents a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892. 0.03% of the stock is currently 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.