Xponance Inc. Acquires 3,703 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Xponance Inc. increased its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 0.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,771,781 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 3,703 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 8.1% of Xponance Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Xponance Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $791,898,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 3,078,099 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted 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 purchasing an additional 842,884 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 6.9% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 24,091,789 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $10,768,771,000 after purchasing an additional 1,563,533 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 14,738,956 shares of the software giant's stock worth $6,587,576,000 after buying an additional 45,220 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB boosted its position in Microsoft by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 13,640,068 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $6,096,428,000 after buying an additional 360,171 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The stock was 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 directly owns 544,847 shares in the company, valued at $219,349,953.73. This trade represents 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 available through this link. In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total value of $1,027,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 50,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,552,000. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now directly 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 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 insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the topic of several research reports. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $470.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $503.03.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of MSFT stock traded down $2.89 on Friday, hitting $422.54. 16,891,414 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,265,076. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.14 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.91. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $360.36 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35. The business has a 50-day moving average of $421.09 and a 200 day moving average of $425.07.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.99 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.94 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has authorized 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 purchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's board of directors 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 paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.79%. This is an increase from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 24.75%.

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.