X Square Capital LLC Sells 199 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

X Square Capital LLC lessened its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,979 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 199 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 1.2% of X Square Capital LLC’s portfolio, 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 institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. First Community Trust NA lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 5.8% during the 1st quarter. First Community Trust NA now owns 20,517 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $8,632,000 after acquiring an additional 1,121 shares during the last quarter. Gunderson Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Microsoft by 8.8% during the 1st quarter. Gunderson Capital Management Inc. now owns 27,087 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $11,396,000 after acquiring an additional 2,200 shares during the last quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Microsoft in the 1st quarter worth approximately $45,709,000. Private Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Private Capital Management LLC now owns 7,452 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,802,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MCIA Inc grew its holdings in Microsoft by 9.5% in the 1st quarter. MCIA Inc now owns 3,398 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,448,000 after acquiring an additional 294 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.7 %

MSFT opened at $424.60 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $420.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $424.56. The company has a market capitalization of $3.16 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.76, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $326.94 and a 1-year high of $468.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

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

Microsoft announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the software giant to purchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.74%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total transaction of $6,009,869.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 786,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total transaction of $6,009,869.18. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 786,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $328,473,703.53. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 496,369 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $203,784,292.95. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on MSFT. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Microsoft from $470.00 to $495.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $506.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. One investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.