Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC Sells 10,173 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 37.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,355 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 10,173 shares during the period. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $6,515,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Newton One Investments LLC lifted its stake 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. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $44,000. IFS Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 50.0% in the 1st 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, Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $62,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. KeyCorp raised shares of Microsoft from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $630.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Wedbush increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. TD Securities increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $585.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $612.54.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $527.32, for a total value of $2,557,502.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 39,111 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,624,012.52. This trade represents a 11.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 8,850 shares of company stock valued at $4,406,512 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.4%

MSFT stock opened at $509.77 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $504.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $442.37. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week 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 firm has a market cap of $3.79 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.06.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted 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 net margin of 36.15% and a return on equity of 32.44%. The firm had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $73.79 billion. During the same period last year, the firm 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. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.34%.

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.

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