WINTON GROUP Ltd Buys Shares of 9,297 Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

WINTON GROUP Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 9,297 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $4,155,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. MayTech Global Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter valued at approximately $200,000. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management boosted its position in Microsoft by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 41,115 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $18,376,000 after buying an additional 825 shares during the period. Clear Investment Research LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.4% in the second quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 4,021 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,798,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Ogorek Anthony Joseph NY ADV increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 14.6% during the second quarter. Ogorek Anthony Joseph NY ADV now owns 5,559 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,484,000 after acquiring an additional 707 shares during the period. Finally, Element Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 264.9% in the second quarter. Element Capital Management LLC now owns 48,321 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $21,597,000 after acquiring an additional 35,077 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

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 transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 50,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,552,000. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total transaction of $6,009,869.18. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 786,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total transaction of $1,027,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 50,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,552,000. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 190,629 shares of company stock worth $77,916,485 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Down 6.1 %

Microsoft stock opened at $406.35 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.02 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.41, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.90. 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 moving average of $420.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $424.58. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $334.69 and a twelve month high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.08 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 35.96%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.99 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the software giant to repurchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.11%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on MSFT shares. Citigroup lowered their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, October 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Argus lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $526.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $503.03.

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.