On August 16, 2023 at 14:52:27 ET an unusually large $12,375.50K block of Put contracts in Microsoft (MSFT) was bought, with a strike price of $345.00 / share, expiring in 2 day(s) (on August 18, 2023). Fintel tracks all large options trades, and the premium spent on this trade was 6.27 sigmas above the mean, placing it in the 100.00th percentile of all recent large trades made in MSFT options.
This trade was first picked up on Fintel's real time Options Flow tool, where unusual option trades are highlighted.
What is the Fund Sentiment?
There are 7023 funds or institutions reporting positions in Microsoft. This is an increase of 42 owner(s) or 0.60% in the last quarter. Average portfolio weight of all funds dedicated to MSFT is 3.71%, an increase of 11.23%. Total shares owned by institutions decreased in the last three months by 3.97% to 5,888,858K shares. 
The put/call ratio of MSFT is 0.88, indicating a bullish outlook.
Analyst Price Forecast Suggests 21.96% Upside
As of August 2, 2023, the average one-year price target for Microsoft is 392.55. The forecasts range from a low of 234.32 to a high of $455.07. The average price target represents an increase of 21.96% from its latest reported closing price of 321.86.
See our leaderboard of companies with the largest price target upside.
The projected annual revenue for Microsoft is 244,898MM, an increase of 15.56%. The projected annual non-GAAP EPS is 11.41.
What are Other Shareholders Doing?
VTSMX - Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund Investor Shares holds 230,422K shares representing 3.10% ownership of the company. In it's prior filing, the firm reported owning 226,595K shares, representing an increase of 1.66%. The firm increased its portfolio allocation in MSFT by 12.88% over the last quarter.
VFINX - Vanguard 500 Index Fund Investor Shares holds 173,695K shares representing 2.34% ownership of the company. In it's prior filing, the firm reported owning 172,327K shares, representing an increase of 0.79%. The firm increased its portfolio allocation in MSFT by 12.37% over the last quarter.
Price T Rowe Associates holds 159,904K shares representing 2.15% ownership of the company. In it's prior filing, the firm reported owning 166,036K shares, representing a decrease of 3.83%. The firm increased its portfolio allocation in MSFT by 5.88% over the last quarter.
Geode Capital Management holds 144,366K shares representing 1.94% ownership of the company. In it's prior filing, the firm reported owning 142,731K shares, representing an increase of 1.13%. The firm increased its portfolio allocation in MSFT by 12.46% over the last quarter.
Jpmorgan Chase holds 113,025K shares representing 1.52% ownership of the company. In it's prior filing, the firm reported owning 94,618K shares, representing an increase of 16.29%. The firm increased its portfolio allocation in MSFT by 25.86% over the last quarter.
Microsoft Declares $0.68 Dividend
On June 13, 2023 the company declared a regular quarterly dividend of $0.68 per share ($2.72 annualized). Shareholders of record as of August 17, 2023 will receive the payment on September 14, 2023. Previously, the company paid $0.68 per share.
At the current share price of $321.86 / share, the stock's dividend yield is 0.85%.
Looking back five years and taking a sample every week, the average dividend yield has been 1.12%, the lowest has been 0.72%, and the highest has been 1.95%. The standard deviation of yields is 0.30 (n=235).
The current dividend yield is 0.94 standard deviations below the historical average.
Additionally, the company's dividend payout ratio is 0.28. The payout ratio tells us how much of a company's income is paid out in dividends. A payout ratio of one (1.0) means 100% of the company's income is paid in a dividend. A payout ratio greater than one means the company is dipping into savings in order to maintain its dividend - not a healthy situation. Companies with few growth prospects are expected to pay out most of their income in dividends, which typically means a payout ratio between 0.5 and 1.0. Companies with good growth prospects are expected to retain some earnings in order to invest in those growth prospects, which translates to a payout ratio of zero to 0.5.
The company's 3-Year dividend growth rate is 0.33%, demonstrating that it has increased its dividend over time.
Microsoft Background Information
(This description is provided by the company.)
Microsoft enables digital transformation for the era of an intelligent cloud and an intelligent edge. Its mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.
Additional reading:
Fintel is one of the most comprehensive investing research platforms available to individual investors, traders, financial advisors, and small hedge funds.
Our data covers the world, and includes fundamentals, analyst reports, ownership data and fund sentiment, options sentiment, insider trading, options flow, unusual options trades, and much more. Additionally, our exclusive stock picks are powered by advanced, backtested quantitative models for improved profits.
This story originally appeared on Fintel.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
0 Comments