Calton & Associates Inc. Decreases Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Calton & Associates Inc. reduced its holdings in Microsoft Corporation ($MSFT) by 34.7% in the first quarter, leaving them with 3,812 shares valued at approximately $1.43 million.
• Microsoft's recent earnings report revealed $3.65 EPS for the quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations of $3.35, along with revenue growth of 18.1% year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.83 per share, to be paid on September 11th, representing an annual yield of 0.7%.

Calton & Associates Inc. cut its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 34.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,812 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 2,028 shares during the quarter. Calton & Associates Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,431,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Stordahl Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Microsoft by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. Stordahl Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,054 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,897,000 after buying an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Conservest Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 9.2% in the first quarter. Conservest Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 2,404 shares of the software giant's stock worth $902,000 after acquiring an additional 203 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 5.8% during the first quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 344,667 shares of the software giant's stock worth $129,385,000 after purchasing an additional 19,032 shares in the last quarter. Fountainhead AM LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 43.3% in the 1st quarter. Fountainhead AM LLC now owns 10,831 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $4,066,000 after purchasing an additional 3,272 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FAS Wealth Partners Inc. lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 42,708 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $16,032,000 after purchasing an additional 1,059 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.6%

MSFT stock opened at $506.69 on Monday. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $555.45. The firm has a market cap of $3.77 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.15, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.04. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $508.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $447.85. 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 (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted 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 company had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $73.79 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.95 earnings per share. Microsoft's revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's payout ratio is currently 24.34%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on MSFT shares. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $605.00 to $613.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Westpark Capital reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Microsoft from $525.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $580.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a "buy" 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 assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $612.54.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 39,111 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,624,012.52. This represents a 11.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.