Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc. Buys 8,290 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc. grew its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 2.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 430,730 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 8,290 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 8.5% of Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its biggest holding. Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $192,515,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Rebalance LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Rebalance LLC now owns 3,451 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,542,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. First National Bank Sioux Falls lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. First National Bank Sioux Falls now owns 6,340 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,834,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Doheny Asset Management CA grew its holdings in Microsoft by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Doheny Asset Management CA now owns 6,397 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,691,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Flagship Private Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.8% during the second quarter. Flagship Private Wealth LLC now owns 913 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $408,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management now owns 9,640 shares of the software giant's stock worth $4,309,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock traded down $2.89 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $422.54. The company's stock had a trading volume of 16,891,414 shares, 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 one year low of $360.36 and a one year high of $468.35. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $421.09 and a 200-day moving average price of $425.07. The stock has a market cap of $3.14 trillion, a P/E 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.99 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.94 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This is a boost from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.79%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is presently 24.75%.

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the software giant to purchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on MSFT. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Wedbush restated an "underperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Oppenheimer lowered Microsoft from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, DA Davidson cut shares of Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $475.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. One 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price 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 transaction of $1,027,600.00. Following the transaction, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the firm's 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 transaction, the insider now owns 544,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $219,349,953.73. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 50,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,552,000. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

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.