Munro Partners Invests $215.99 Million in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Munro Partners bought a new stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 434,223 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $215,987,000. Microsoft comprises 6.8% of Munro Partners’ holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest holding.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 14.4% in the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 3,703,759 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,842,133,000 after purchasing an additional 467,540 shares in the last quarter. MASTERINVEST Kapitalanlage GmbH purchased a new position in Microsoft during the second quarter worth approximately $62,533,000. Nautilus Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 2.6% during the second quarter. Nautilus Advisors LLC now owns 5,017 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,495,000 after buying an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Promus Capital LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 8.8% during the second quarter. Promus Capital LLC now owns 6,435 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,201,000 after buying an additional 520 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Silverlake Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 6.6% in the 2nd quarter. Silverlake Wealth Management LLC now owns 48,779 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $24,263,000 after acquiring an additional 3,024 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 2,850 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.72, for a total value of $1,364,352.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 55,782 shares in the company, valued at $26,703,959.04. This represents a 4.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 38,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $518.64, for a total value of $19,967,640.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 461,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $239,402,668.08. This trade represents a 7.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 54,100 shares of company stock worth $27,598,872 in the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $474.82 on Tuesday. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $555.45. The firm has a market cap of $3.53 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a 50-day moving average of $502.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $502.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.39.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.65 by $0.48. The firm had revenue of $77.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $75.49 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.71% and a return on equity of 32.45%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.30 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be given a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 19th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.89%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on MSFT shares. Baird R W upgraded Microsoft to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 14th. Rothschild & Co Redburn restated a “neutral” rating and set a $500.00 price objective (down from $560.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $675.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $650.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, DZ Bank restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $631.03.

Microsoft Company 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.