Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC Sells 944 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in Microsoft Corporation by 1.7% during the second quarter, holding 55,436 shares valued at approximately $27.57 million.
• Wall Street analysts have raised their price targets for Microsoft, with estimates now reaching up to $640.00, reflecting strong expectations for future growth.
• Microsoft recently increased its quarterly dividend from $0.83 to $0.91 per share, indicating a strong cash position and commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 55,436 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 944 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 3.8% of Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $27,574,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Newton One Investments LLC raised its position in 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. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at about $44,000. IFS Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 50.0% during the first quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC increased its position in shares of 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $530.00 to $582.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Loop Capital upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $612.54.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of Microsoft stock traded down $4.54 on Tuesday, reaching $509.91. The stock had a trading volume of 7,260,959 shares, compared to its average volume of 22,143,365. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.79 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.04. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $555.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $511.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $459.59.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $73.79 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.15% and a return on equity of 32.44%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.95 earnings per share. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 20th will be given a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. This is an increase from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.34%.

Insider Activity

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

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.