FDx Advisors Inc. Trims Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

FDx Advisors Inc. reduced its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 75.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 10,575 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 32,675 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 1.3% of FDx Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. FDx Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $4,726,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 667,987,038 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $281,035,506,000 after acquiring an additional 3,078,099 shares during the period. Capital International Investors increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.0% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 83,571,070 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $35,160,020,000 after acquiring an additional 842,884 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% during the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 14,738,956 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $6,587,576,000 after acquiring an additional 45,220 shares during the period. Swedbank AB increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.7% during the second quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 13,640,068 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $6,096,428,000 after acquiring an additional 360,171 shares during the period. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 15.6% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 11,931,721 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,019,942,000 after acquiring an additional 1,613,050 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, 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 value of $16,103,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 544,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $219,349,953.73. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Microsoft news, 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 value of $16,103,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 544,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $219,349,953.73. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $410.55, for a total transaction of $15,600,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 496,369 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $203,784,292.95. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MSFT. 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 research note on Friday, July 12th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $520.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Wedbush reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $495.68.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $418.16 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $419.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $424.49. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $324.39 and a 1 year high of $468.35. The stock has a market cap of $3.11 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.90.

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

Microsoft announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the software giant to reacquire up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.74%.

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.