Avity Investment Management Inc. Raises Stock Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Avity Investment Management Inc. has increased its Microsoft holdings by 2.1% to $64.25 million, making Microsoft its third-largest holding.
• CEO Satya Nadella sold over $75 million worth of Microsoft shares, reducing his ownership by 15.87%.
• Microsoft recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share, up from the previous $0.83, with a yield of 0.7%.

Avity Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 129,159 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 2,664 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 4.8% of Avity Investment Management Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Avity Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $64,245,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Newton One Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 66.7% in the 1st quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $44,000. IFS Advisors LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 50.0% in the first quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 155.7% during the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 156 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT traded up $9.48 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $517.93. The stock had a trading volume of 52,313,925 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,503,336. The stock has a market cap of $3.85 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.04. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month 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 stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $511.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $458.31.

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

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 20th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. This is a positive change from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Microsoft's payout ratio is 24.34%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $637.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $585.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday. Raymond James Financial lifted their price target 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, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $612.54.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $527.32, for a total transaction of $2,557,502.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 39,111 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,624,012.52. The trade was a 11.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 transaction of $75,315,699.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 790,852 shares in the company, valued at $399,206,272.56. This trade represents a 15.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.