Krane Funds Advisors LLC Has $1.32 Million Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Krane Funds Advisors LLC cut its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 19.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,506 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 854 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 0.1% of Krane Funds Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position. Krane Funds Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,318,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Friedenthal Financial bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $45,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $58,000. PayPay Securities Corp grew its holdings in Microsoft by 23.7% during the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 188 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $71,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $87,000. Finally, Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 160.7% during the fourth quarter. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. now owns 232 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $87,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total value of $10,642,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 104,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,674,690.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total transaction of $10,642,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 104,949 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,674,690.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total transaction of $101,389.32. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 47,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,534,480.83. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 25,566 shares of company stock worth $10,877,535. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of MSFT stock traded up $0.99 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $442.57. The company had a trading volume of 13,581,985 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,602,950. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $417.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $404.64. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $309.45 and a 12 month high of $443.40. The company has a market cap of $3.29 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.23.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $61.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.86 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 37.54% and a net margin of 36.43%. The business’s revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.45 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 11.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 25.97%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MSFT. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $465.00 price objective (up previously from $455.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, June 7th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Microsoft from $465.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Macquarie raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $460.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $465.83.

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.