Buffington Mohr McNeal Lowers Stock Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Buffington Mohr McNeal reduced its holdings in Microsoft Corporation by 8.7% during the first quarter, maintaining it as their 4th largest position with 68,770 shares valued at approximately $25.8 million.
• Several hedge funds have significantly increased their positions in Microsoft, including GAMMA Investing LLC, which boosted its stake by an astonishing 40,290.4% in the first quarter, now owning 46.7 million shares valued at around $17.5 billion.
• Recent price target upgrades from analysts suggest a strong outlook for Microsoft, with targets rising to between $625 and $640, and a current average rating of Moderate Buy.

Buffington Mohr McNeal trimmed its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 8.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 68,770 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 6,566 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 5.1% of Buffington Mohr McNeal's holdings, making the stock its 4th largest position. Buffington Mohr McNeal's holdings in Microsoft were worth $25,815,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fosun International Ltd increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the first quarter. Fosun International Ltd now owns 6,633 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,490,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the period. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,050 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $443,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the period. Alliance Wealth Management Group increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Alliance Wealth Management Group now owns 5,617 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,368,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Guidance Point Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Guidance Point Advisors LLC now owns 4,294 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,811,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc. raised its holdings in Microsoft by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc. now owns 533 shares of the software giant's stock worth $225,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the firm'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 directly owned 39,111 shares in the company, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders sold 8,850 shares of company stock worth $4,406,512 in the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of MSFT stock traded up $2.99 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $507.23. 24,300,741 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 22,487,876. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $555.45. The company has a market cap of $3.77 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.06. 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's 50-day moving average price is $506.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $444.11.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $73.79 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.95 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.34%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on MSFT shares. Loop Capital upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Westpark Capital restated a "hold" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 31st. UBS Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $650.00 price objective (up from $600.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $581.00 to $639.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. One 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $612.54.

Microsoft Company 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.