Stanley Capital Management LLC Makes New Investment in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Stanley Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 14,695 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $6,568,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Morse Asset Management Inc lifted its position in Microsoft by 5.5% during the 2nd quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc now owns 47,343 shares of the software giant's stock worth $21,160,000 after acquiring an additional 2,473 shares during the last quarter. Interval Partners LP lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 14,401.7% during the 2nd quarter. Interval Partners LP now owns 8,701 shares of the software giant's stock worth $3,889,000 after purchasing an additional 8,641 shares during the last quarter. American Investment Services Inc. boosted its stake in Microsoft by 43.4% during the 2nd quarter. American Investment Services Inc. now owns 1,057 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $472,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the period. Tairen Capital Ltd increased its position in Microsoft by 557.8% in the 2nd quarter. Tairen Capital Ltd now owns 1,079,109 shares of the software giant's stock worth $482,308,000 after buying an additional 915,058 shares during the period. Finally, Evergreen Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 4.0% during the second quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 245,370 shares of the software giant's stock worth $109,668,000 after buying an additional 9,345 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on MSFT. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Wells Fargo & Company restated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Wedbush reiterated an "underperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $503.03.

Insider Buying and Selling 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 value of $1,027,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 50,000 shares in the company, valued at $20,552,000. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total transaction of $16,103,600.00. Following 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 ownership of the stock. 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 ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT traded down $2.89 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $422.54. 16,891,414 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,265,076. 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 Co. has a 12 month low of $360.36 and a 12 month high of $468.35. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $421.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $425.07. The company has a market capitalization of $3.14 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.91.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The company's revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.99 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 12.94 EPS for the current year.

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 dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend 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 currently 24.75%.

Microsoft announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to buyback $60.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the software giant to buy up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.