Two Point Capital Management Inc. Raises Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Two Point Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 56,404 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 440 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 8.9% of Two Point Capital Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Two Point Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $24,271,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 48,526.1% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 38,501,645 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $16,567,258,000 after acquiring an additional 38,422,466 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 34,511,544 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $15,426,767,000 after buying an additional 97,075 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 6.9% in 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 buying an additional 1,563,533 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 14,738,956 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $6,587,576,000 after buying an additional 45,220 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 13,689,356 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,890,530,000 after buying an additional 49,288 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total value of $414,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 57,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. This trade represents a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total transaction of $10,425,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,911,598. This trade represents a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892 over the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. StockNews.com raised shares of Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $525.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $511.62.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $424.56 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.16 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $371.19 and a twelve month high of $468.35. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $428.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $427.61.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.99 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current year.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.78%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.39%.

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.