Guidance Capital Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Guidance Capital Inc. lessened its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 12.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,143 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 1,650 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 1.0% of Guidance Capital Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 15th largest position. Guidance Capital Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $4,470,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Microsoft by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 717,942,580 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $347,211,391,000 after acquiring an additional 15,955,898 shares during the last quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 56,160.8% in the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 60,116,384 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $29,073,486,000 after acquiring an additional 60,009,531 shares during the period. Amundi boosted its position in Microsoft by 30.8% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 41,675,076 shares of the software giant's stock worth $15,426,862,000 after purchasing an additional 9,814,598 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 25,300,410 shares of the software giant's stock worth $12,235,785,000 after purchasing an additional 458,014 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 10.5% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 29,323,744 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $10,852,884,000 after purchasing an additional 2,784,809 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $487.89, for a total transaction of $4,878,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 100,447 shares in the company, valued at $49,007,086.83. This trade represents a 9.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 86,525 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $501.46, for a total value of $43,388,826.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 486,763 shares in the company, valued at approximately $244,092,173.98. The trade was a 15.09% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 143,009 shares of company stock valued at $71,420,699 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT opened at $497.12 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.69 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.68, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a fifty day moving average of $460.39 and a 200 day moving average of $420.90. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $349.20 and a fifty-two week high of $553.72.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.50. The business had revenue of $90.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $87.62 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 31.98%. The business's revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.65 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 19th will be given a $0.98 dividend. This is an increase from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 19th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.27%.

Microsoft News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Dividend increased 8%: Microsoft’s board raised the quarterly dividend by $0.07 to $0.98 per share, signaling confidence in cash generation and improving shareholder returns. Microsoft announces quarterly dividend increase
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support remains strong: Citizens JMP reaffirmed a “Market Outperform” rating and a $550 price target, implying additional upside from the reported $497.12 reference price. Other recent commentary highlights Azure growth, Copilot adoption and Microsoft’s enterprise software strength.
• Positive Sentiment: Greater Azure transparency could help the stock: Microsoft plans to report Azure revenue, rather than only its growth rate, in quarterly results. The move could make the cloud business easier to value and allow investors to better assess whether AI infrastructure spending is translating into revenue. Microsoft Azure revenue reporting
• Positive Sentiment: Upcoming product catalyst: Microsoft scheduled a Windows and Surface event for October 7, where investors expect updates on next-generation hardware and on-device AI capabilities. Microsoft Windows and Surface event
• Neutral Sentiment: AI safety positioning: Microsoft’s draft “Humanist AI” code of conduct emphasizes human control, outside testing and limits on model behavior. The framework may improve trust and reduce regulatory risk, although a slower development approach could raise questions about competitiveness and commercialization.
• Negative Sentiment: Executive selling adds a modest overhang: EVP Amy Hood sold 41,674 shares worth approximately $20.8 million under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. Because the sale was scheduled in advance, it is not necessarily a signal about Microsoft’s outlook, but it adds to recent insider-selling activity.
• Negative Sentiment: AI execution and security concerns remain: Investors continue to weigh Microsoft’s heavy data-center investment against the time required to generate returns, while coverage of a recent large security patch highlights ongoing cybersecurity risks.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $575.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Scotiabank reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $510.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Citizens Jmp reiterated a "market outperform" rating and set a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Citigroup reissued a "market outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, August 31st. Forty-two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $564.27.

About Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company that develops software, cloud services, devices and digital solutions for consumers, businesses and public-sector organizations. Its products and services include the Windows operating system, Microsoft 365 productivity applications, Teams collaboration software, Dynamics business applications and Azure cloud computing services.

The company also operates LinkedIn, GitHub and Xbox, which includes gaming consoles, video games and related online services.

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