Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Sycomore Asset Management’s Largest Position

Sycomore Asset Management increased its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 14.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 156,322 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 19,501 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 12.5% of Sycomore Asset Management’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Sycomore Asset Management’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $70,683,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MSFT. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the second quarter worth approximately $18,122,000. Heritage Oak Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at $607,000. Souders Financial Advisors grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.5% in the second quarter. Souders Financial Advisors now owns 28,199 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $12,604,000 after acquiring an additional 697 shares during the period. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $3,396,000. Finally, KPP Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. KPP Advisory Services LLC now owns 27,331 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $12,216,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Down 2.8 %

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $415.00 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.09 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.91. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $422.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $425.44. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $362.90 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.99 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the software giant to buy up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.80%. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.39%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total value of $1,027,600.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 50,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,552,000. The trade was a 4.76 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total value of $3,050,352.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. This represents a 6.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 197,829 shares of company stock worth $80,966,837 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MSFT. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 10th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, DA Davidson downgraded shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, September 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twenty-six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.