Canoe Financial LP Has $288.95 Million Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Canoe Financial LP has reduced its stake in Microsoft Corporation by 4.2%, now holding 580,906 shares with a current value of approximately $288.95 million, making Microsoft its second-largest investment.
• CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of Microsoft stock, representing a 15.87% decrease in his ownership, while Executive Vice President Takeshi Numoto also reduced his stake by 11.03%.
• Microsoft announced an increase in its quarterly dividend to $0.91, with a record date of November 20th, 2023, representing an annualized yield of 0.7%.

Canoe Financial LP lessened its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 4.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 580,906 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 25,500 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 4.1% of Canoe Financial LP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Canoe Financial LP's holdings in Microsoft were worth $288,948,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bulwark Capital Corp bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Newton One Investments LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 66.7% during the first quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Finally, IFS Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 50.0% during the first quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $504.78, for a total value of $75,315,699.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 790,852 shares in the company, valued at $399,206,272.56. The trade was a 15.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $527.32, for a total transaction of $2,557,502.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 39,111 shares in the company, valued at $20,624,012.52. This trade represents a 11.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on MSFT. UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $650.00 price objective (up from $600.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Wall Street Zen cut Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, September 20th. Mizuho lifted their target price on Microsoft from $540.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Microsoft from $525.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Microsoft from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $614.45.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.9%

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $511.46 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 1.35. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $512.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $462.60. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $555.45. The company has a market capitalization of $3.80 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.04.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.35 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $73.79 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.44% and a net margin of 36.15%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.95 earnings per share. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be paid a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. This is a boost from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Microsoft's payout ratio is currently 24.34%.

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.

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