Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS Sells 7,387 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS lowered its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 603,424 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 7,387 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 5.1% of Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $269,700,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 169.2% during the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1,290.0% during the first quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter worth about $75,000. Bellevue Group AG lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 47.5% during the first quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 180 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Horizon Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the first quarter worth about $80,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on MSFT shares. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $506.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Argus lifted their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $526.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $495.68.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The stock was 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 directly owns 544,847 shares in the company, valued at $219,349,953.73. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total value of $16,103,600.00. Following the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 17,378 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.85, for a total value of $7,157,129.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 150,161 shares in the company, valued at $61,843,807.85. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 190,629 shares of company stock worth $77,916,485 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $418.16 on Friday. 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 50 day simple moving average of $419.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $424.51. The company has a market cap of $3.11 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $324.39 and a 12-month high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $64.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.38 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 35.96%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.69 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.02 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders 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 0.79%. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 28.74%.

Microsoft declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the software giant to reacquire up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.