Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stake Raised by Point72 Europe London LLP

Point72 Europe London LLP increased its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 35.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 101,040 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 26,700 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 3.7% of Point72 Europe London LLP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Point72 Europe London LLP’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $45,160,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in Microsoft in the first quarter valued at about $5,587,119,000. Wulff Hansen & CO. grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 47,196.6% in the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 4,834,658 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,160,850,000 after acquiring an additional 4,824,436 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 667,987,038 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $281,035,506,000 after acquiring an additional 3,078,099 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its stake in Microsoft by 77.6% in the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 6,281,925 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,642,931,000 after purchasing an additional 2,744,900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&G Plc purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the first quarter worth $846,072,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

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 transaction, the insider now owns 544,847 shares in the company, valued at $219,349,953.73. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total value 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 $20,552,000. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 544,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $219,349,953.73. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Wells Fargo & Company restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 18th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twenty-six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $503.03.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $422.54 on Monday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $421.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $425.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.14 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.91. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $360.36 and a 1-year high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.29.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.99 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.94 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the software giant to repurchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a $0.83 dividend. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.79%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.39%.

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.