Howard Financial Services LTD. Decreases Stock Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Howard Financial Services LTD. decreased its holdings in Microsoft Corporation by 13.9%, now owning 21,050 shares worth approximately $10.47 million.
• CEO Satya Nadella sold over 149,000 shares of Microsoft stock, reducing his ownership by 15.87% after a transaction valued at over $75 million.
• Microsoft recently announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.91 per share, representing a 0.7% dividend yield, with a payout ratio of 24.34%.

Howard Financial Services LTD. reduced its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 13.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,050 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 3,393 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 1.4% of Howard Financial Services LTD.'s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Howard Financial Services LTD.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $10,471,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Newton One Investments LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 66.7% in the first quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $44,000. IFS Advisors LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 50.0% in the first quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 155.7% in the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 156 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $504.78, for a total value of $75,315,699.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 790,852 shares of the company's stock, valued at $399,206,272.56. This represents a 15.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the company's 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 39,111 shares in the company, valued at $20,624,012.52. This trade represents a 11.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on MSFT shares. KeyCorp raised shares of Microsoft from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $630.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Wedbush boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $585.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $612.54.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of MSFT opened at $510.02 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm's 50-day moving average is $511.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $456.20. Microsoft Corporation has a twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $555.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.79 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.39, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.04.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $73.79 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.95 earnings per share. The firm'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, research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Shareholders 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%. This is a boost from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. Microsoft's payout ratio is currently 24.34%.

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.

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