X Square Capital LLC Trims Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

X Square Capital LLC decreased its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,979 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 199 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 1.2% of X Square Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 25th largest holding. X Square Capital LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,673,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of MSFT. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the first quarter valued at approximately $5,587,119,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Microsoft by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 667,987,038 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $281,035,506,000 after buying an additional 3,078,099 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its stake in Microsoft by 77.6% during the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 6,281,925 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,642,931,000 after acquiring an additional 2,744,900 shares during the period. Global Assets Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 1st quarter valued at $989,814,000. Finally, M&G Plc purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the first quarter valued at $846,072,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.7 %

Microsoft stock opened at $424.60 on Thursday. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $326.94 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $420.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $424.56. The company has a market capitalization of $3.16 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.27.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.05. Microsoft had a return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 35.96%. The firm had revenue of $64.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.38 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.69 earnings per share. Microsoft’s revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the software giant to reacquire up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.74%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total transaction of $32,017,386.39. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 864,327 shares in the company, valued at approximately $353,189,942.01. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total value of $32,017,386.39. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 864,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $353,189,942.01. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total transaction of $16,103,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 544,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $219,349,953.73. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MSFT. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Microsoft from $520.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $495.58.

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.