Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is ClariVest Asset Management LLC’s Largest Position

ClariVest Asset Management LLC decreased its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 125,934 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,278 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 5.7% of ClariVest Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its largest position. ClariVest Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $56,287,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

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

Microsoft Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of MSFT opened at $428.15 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $420.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $424.58. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $326.94 and a twelve month high of $468.35. The stock has a market cap of $3.18 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $64.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.38 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.69 EPS. Microsoft’s revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the software giant to reacquire up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total transaction of $6,009,869.18. Following the completion of the sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total value of $6,009,869.18. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. 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.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wedbush reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $506.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Argus boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $475.00 to $526.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Oppenheimer downgraded Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, DA Davidson cut Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twenty-six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $502.97.

About Microsoft

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.