Capital Market Strategies LLC Sells 3,125 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Capital Market Strategies LLC reduced its stake in Microsoft Corporation by 10.8%, selling 3,125 shares during the 2nd quarter, leaving them with 25,908 shares valued at approximately $12.89 million.
• Microsoft's CEO, Satya Nadella, sold 149,205 shares at an average price of $504.78, representing a 15.87% decrease in his ownership.
• The company announced an increase in its quarterly dividend to $0.91 per share, with the ex-dividend date on November 20th, reflecting a 9.6% rise from the previous dividend rate.

Capital Market Strategies LLC decreased its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 10.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 25,908 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 3,125 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 9.0% of Capital Market Strategies LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Capital Market Strategies LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $12,887,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of 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 worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $44,000. IFS Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 50.0% in the first quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant's stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 155.7% in the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 156 shares of the software giant's stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $540.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Microsoft from $530.00 to $582.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Microsoft from $525.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Westpark Capital restated a "hold" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $612.54.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT stock traded up $9.48 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $517.93. The company had a trading volume of 52,313,925 shares, compared to its average volume of 22,241,104. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $555.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.85 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.97, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.04. The firm's fifty day moving average is $511.42 and its 200 day moving average is $457.02. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.35 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $73.79 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.44% and a net margin of 36.15%.The company's revenue was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.95 EPS. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. This is an increase from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.69%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the business'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 value of $2,557,502.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 39,111 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,624,012.52. The trade was a 11.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the business'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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 790,852 shares in the company, valued at $399,206,272.56. The trade was 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 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.