Meeder Asset Management Inc. Buys 51,273 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 25.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 250,657 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 51,273 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 7.9% of Meeder Asset Management Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Meeder Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $112,031,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 667,987,038 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $281,035,506,000 after purchasing an additional 3,078,099 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.0% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 83,571,070 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $35,160,020,000 after buying an additional 842,884 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers grew its holdings in Microsoft by 0.3% during the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 14,738,956 shares of the software giant's stock worth $6,587,576,000 after acquiring an additional 45,220 shares during the period. Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 2.7% in the second quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 13,640,068 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $6,096,428,000 after acquiring an additional 360,171 shares during the period. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 15.6% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 11,931,721 shares of the software giant's stock worth $5,019,942,000 after purchasing an additional 1,613,050 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock traded up $2.79 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $434.74. The stock had a trading volume of 14,781,690 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,176,383. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $420.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $424.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.23 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.27. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $334.69 and a twelve month high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $64.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.38 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 35.96%. The company's revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.69 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This is an increase from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.76%. Microsoft's payout ratio is currently 28.11%.

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wedbush reaffirmed an "underperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, October 18th. Truist Financial reissued a "buy" rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday. KeyCorp raised their price objective on 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 lowered Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $475.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, September 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $502.97.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total value of $6,009,869.18. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 786,933 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total transaction of $6,009,869.18. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 786,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $410.55, for a total value of $15,600,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 496,369 shares in the company, valued at $203,784,292.95. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485 in the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.