5 Most Searched Stocks on Insider Monkey

1. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Percentage of Searches: 0.60%

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 258

Investors frequently look up Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) stock on the Insider Monkey platform. On September 20, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) declared a $0.68 per share quarterly dividend, a 10% increase from its prior dividend of $0.62. The dividend is distributable on December 8, to shareholders of record on November 17. The forward yield was 1.11%. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) also announced on September 20 that it is cutting a dozen Xbox game titles by the end of the month.

On September 21, Morgan Stanley analyst Keith Weiss observed that the dividend hike indicates Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s “durable high-teens total return profile” when paired with its high-teens percentage EPS growth. This dividend boost is consistent with dividend hikes by the company in the last several years. He kept an Overweight rating and a $354 price target on Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) shares.

According to Insider Monkey’s data, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) was part of 258 hedge fund portfolios at the end of the second quarter of 2022, compared to 259 funds in the earlier quarter. Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke, and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital is one of the leading stakeholders of the company, with approximately 18 million shares valued at $4.6 billion. 

In its Q2 2022 investor letter, Baron Funds, an asset management firm, highlighted a few stocks and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) was one of them. Here is what the fund said:

“Shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), a leading global provider of software solutions, declined 16.6% in the quarter along with the broader software group as well as due to growing concerns of a potential macro-driven slowdown. This is despite the company posting strong quarterly financial results and successfully absorbing headwinds from the war in Ukraine. The company had 21% revenue growth, 23% operating income growth, and 35% growth in Microsoft Cloud (all year-over-year in constant currency), which now represents 47% of total revenues. (read more…)

You can also take a look at 10 Best Performing S&P 500 Stocks in 2022 and 10 Best Consumer Discretionary Stocks To Buy. 

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