InvesTrust cut its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report) by 29.5% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 25,546 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 10,688 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 4.9% of InvesTrust’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. InvesTrust’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $12,707,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.
Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Microsoft by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 691,386,214 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $259,539,471,000 after buying an additional 7,314,509 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 168,128,024 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $70,720,874,000 after buying an additional 3,103,212 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $44,343,058,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Microsoft by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $35,316,535,000 after buying an additional 11,600,470 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 62,267,822 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $23,374,718,000 after buying an additional 2,306,485 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
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Analysts Set New Price Targets
Several research firms have commented on MSFT. Wedbush boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $600.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $650.00 target price (up from $600.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Raymond James Financial raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $490.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $581.00 to $639.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $612.54.
Read Our Latest Stock Report on Microsoft
Microsoft Stock Up 0.2%
Microsoft stock opened at $510.02 on Thursday. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $555.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 1.35. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $511.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $456.20. The company has a market capitalization of $3.79 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.04.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.35 by $0.30. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.15% and a return on equity of 32.44%. The firm had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $73.79 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.95 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. Research analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.
Microsoft Increases Dividend
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be paid a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 24.34%.
Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft
In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $504.78, for a total value of $75,315,699.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 790,852 shares in the company, valued at $399,206,272.56. The trade was a 15.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $527.32, for a total transaction of $2,557,502.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 39,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,624,012.52. This trade represents a 11.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.
About Microsoft
(Free Report)
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.
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