Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Handelsbanken Fonder AB's 2nd Largest Position

Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,351,220 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 41,589 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 5.7% of Handelsbanken Fonder AB's investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Handelsbanken Fonder AB's holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,442,030,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its position in shares of 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 period. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter valued at about $45,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter valued at about $75,000. Bellevue Group AG boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 47.5% in the first quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 180 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $76,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 241.4% in the second quarter. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC now owns 379 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $169,000 after acquiring an additional 268 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 544,847 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $219,349,953.73. This represents a 6.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 864,327 shares of the company's stock, valued at $353,189,942.01. The trade was a 8.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 197,829 shares of company stock valued at $80,966,837 over the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 18th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $503.03.

Microsoft Price Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $415.49 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.09 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.28, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.91. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $362.90 and a 52-week high of $468.35. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $422.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $426.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.30.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 for 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 for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.99 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft announced that its board has approved a share repurchase 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 often a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $0.83 per share. 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is presently 24.75%.

Microsoft 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.