Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Position Decreased by First Horizon Advisors Inc.

First Horizon Advisors Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 0.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 160,181 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 1,378 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 1.7% of First Horizon Advisors Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. First Horizon Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $60,131,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Newton One Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 66.7% during the 1st quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $44,000. IFS Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 50.0% during the 1st quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $62,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. TD Securities raised their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Microsoft from $600.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Microsoft from $550.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on Microsoft from $580.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research 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 given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $612.54.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT traded down $1.48 during trading on Thursday, reaching $504.24. 18,409,405 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 22,371,064. Microsoft Corporation has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $555.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.35. The company has a 50-day moving average of $505.43 and a 200-day moving average of $443.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.75 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.06.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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. The firm had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $73.79 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.44% and a net margin of 36.15%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.95 EPS. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. Analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 8,850 shares of company stock worth $4,406,512. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

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.