James J. Burns & Company LLC Reduces Stake in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• James J. Burns & Company LLC has reduced its stake in Microsoft Corporation by 3.8%, now holding 15,935 shares valued at approximately $7.9 million.
• Microsoft's quarterly earnings surpassed expectations, reporting $3.65 earnings per share, and showing a year-over-year revenue increase of 18.1%, totaling $76.44 billion.
• The company recently announced an increase in its dividend to $0.91 per share, representing a 0.7% yield and reflecting a boost from the previous $0.83 dividend.

James J. Burns & Company LLC cut its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 3.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,935 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 627 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 1.3% of James J. Burns & Company LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. James J. Burns & Company LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $7,927,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 691,386,214 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $259,539,471,000 after purchasing an additional 7,314,509 shares during the last quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 564,387.1% during the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 90,549,369 shares of the software giant's stock worth $45,040,162,000 after buying an additional 90,533,328 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $35,316,535,000 after buying an additional 11,600,470 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 3.8% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 62,267,822 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $23,374,718,000 after acquiring an additional 2,306,485 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 59,961,337 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $25,273,704,000 after acquiring an additional 5,370,546 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owned 39,111 shares in the company, valued at $20,624,012.52. The trade was a 11.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $504.78, for a total transaction of $75,315,699.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer 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. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $528.57 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Microsoft Corporation has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $555.45. The firm has a market cap of $3.93 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.03. The company's 50 day moving average is $513.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $468.70.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.35 by $0.30. The business 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.95 earnings per share. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be paid a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. This is a boost from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.34%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Microsoft from $515.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price target on Microsoft from $581.00 to $639.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $640.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $618.47.

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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