Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Purchased by Altshuler Shaham Ltd

Altshuler Shaham Ltd boosted its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 9.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,230,538 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 109,718 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 18.6% of Altshuler Shaham Ltd's portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Altshuler Shaham Ltd's holdings in Microsoft were worth $549,989,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MSFT. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its stake in Microsoft by 169.2% during the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter valued at approximately $75,000. Bellevue Group AG boosted its stake in Microsoft by 47.5% during the 1st quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 180 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC increased 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 purchasing an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MayTech Global Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter worth $200,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total transaction of $32,017,386.39. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 864,327 shares in the company, valued at approximately $353,189,942.01. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 544,847 shares of the company's stock, valued at $219,349,953.73. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total value of $32,017,386.39. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 864,327 shares of the company's stock, valued at $353,189,942.01. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 190,629 shares of company stock worth $77,916,485. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Microsoft from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Mizuho upped their price target on Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Wedbush reissued an "underperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, October 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $503.03.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock traded down $2.89 on Friday, reaching $422.54. 16,891,414 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,265,076. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $360.36 and a twelve month high of $468.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.14 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.86, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.91. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $421.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $425.07.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The firm had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.99 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft announced that its board has initiated 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 purchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.