XML Financial LLC Has $25.68 Million Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

XML Financial LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 4.3% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 59,677 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 2,672 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 2.4% of XML Financial LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest holding. XML Financial LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $25,679,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Austin Asset Management Co Inc grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Austin Asset Management Co Inc now owns 4,862 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,092,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the period. RKL Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. RKL Wealth Management LLC now owns 57,624 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $24,796,000 after buying an additional 699 shares during the period. GSG Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. GSG Advisors LLC now owns 20,282 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $8,533,000 after buying an additional 831 shares during the period. Essex Savings Bank grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 9.9% in the 3rd quarter. Essex Savings Bank now owns 28,517 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $12,271,000 after buying an additional 2,570 shares during the period. Finally, First Personal Financial Services grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. First Personal Financial Services now owns 41,442 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $17,833,000 after buying an additional 2,515 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares in the company, valued at $48,911,598. This represents a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total transaction of $1,118,525.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 49,352 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,080,578.32. The trade was a 4.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892 in the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $525.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $511.62.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $417.19 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.30. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $429.00 and its 200-day moving average is $426.98. The stock has a market cap of $3.10 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.42, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $384.81 and a 52-week high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $65.59 billion for 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 revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.99 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the software giant to buy up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.80%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

Microsoft 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.