Argus Investors Counsel Inc. Has $2.57 Million Stock Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Argus Investors Counsel Inc. cut its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 15.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,165 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 968 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 1.8% of Argus Investors Counsel Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position. Argus Investors Counsel Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,569,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Newton One Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 66.7% in the first quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Bulwark Capital Corp acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the second quarter worth about $32,000. Westend Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 386.7% during the 2nd quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the software giant's stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. Finally, LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth about $44,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 39,111 shares in the company, valued at $20,624,012.52. This represents a 11.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $504.78, for a total value of $75,315,699.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 790,852 shares in the company, valued at approximately $399,206,272.56. This represents a 15.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup boosted their target price on Microsoft from $605.00 to $613.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Microsoft from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Microsoft from $580.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Arete boosted their target price on Microsoft from $700.00 to $710.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $618.47.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.1%

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $513.57 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.82 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.65, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.03. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $512.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $473.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 1.35. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.35 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $73.79 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.44% and a net margin of 36.15%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.95 EPS. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. This is a positive change from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.34%.

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.

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