Czech National Bank Raises Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Czech National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,514,189 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 97,893 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 6.6% of Czech National Bank's holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Czech National Bank's holdings in Microsoft were worth $651,556,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its stake in Microsoft by 169.2% in the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at about $45,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the second quarter worth approximately $75,000. Bellevue Group AG raised 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 acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 241.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC now owns 379 shares of the software giant's stock worth $169,000 after acquiring an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.6 %

Microsoft stock opened at $415.49 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $3.09 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.91. 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 fifty day moving average of $422.46 and a 200 day moving average of $426.13. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $362.90 and a one year high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its 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 net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The business had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $64.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.99 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.94 EPS for the current year.

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 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the software giant to reacquire up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft's payout ratio is presently 24.75%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total value of $32,017,386.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 864,327 shares in the company, valued at $353,189,942.01. This represents a 8.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 50,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,552,000. This trade represents a 4.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 197,829 shares of company stock worth $80,966,837. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on MSFT. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. UBS Group decreased their price target on Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $503.03.

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.