Waddell & Associates LLC Has $6.44 Million Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Waddell & Associates LLC lessened its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.5% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 14,411 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 74 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 0.8% of Waddell & Associates LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Waddell & Associates LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $6,441,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the first quarter worth $5,587,119,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 667,987,038 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $281,035,506,000 after buying an additional 3,078,099 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 77.6% in the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 6,281,925 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,642,931,000 after buying an additional 2,744,900 shares during the last quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 1st quarter valued at about $989,814,000. Finally, M&G Plc bought a new position in Microsoft during the 1st quarter worth approximately $846,072,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 786,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $328,473,703.53. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total transaction of $16,103,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 544,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $219,349,953.73. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $328,473,703.53. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 190,629 shares of company stock worth $77,916,485 over the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $424.60 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $420.33 and a 200 day moving average of $424.56. The company has a market capitalization of $3.16 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.76, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $326.94 and a 12 month high of $468.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.05. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 35.95%. The firm had revenue of $64.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.38 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.69 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the software giant to repurchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 28.74%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MSFT. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Microsoft from $470.00 to $495.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Oppenheimer lowered Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, DA Davidson cut Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $495.58.

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.