Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Acquired by LaSalle St. Investment Advisors LLC

Key Points

• LaSalle St. Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Microsoft Corporation by 28.1%, acquiring an additional 3,327 shares, bringing its total to 15,146 shares valued at approximately $5.68 million.
• Insider transactions revealed that CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares, while EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares, indicating a decrease in their ownership positions.
• Microsoft announced a quarterly dividend of $0.83 per share, with a payout ratio of 24.34%, confirming its commitment to returning value to shareholders.

LaSalle St. Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 28.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,146 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 3,327 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 1.3% of LaSalle St. Investment Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 14th largest position. LaSalle St. Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $5,685,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. WFA Asset Management Corp grew its holdings in Microsoft by 27.0% during the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant's stock worth $427,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares during the period. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. boosted its position in Microsoft by 0.3% during the second quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant's stock worth $5,658,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 410.4% during the third quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 2,659 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,144,000 after purchasing an additional 2,138 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. now owns 2,374 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,000,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tallon Kerry Patrick acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,375,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the company'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 directly owned 790,852 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $399,206,272.56. This represents a 15.87% decrease in their position. 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 business's stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 39,111 shares in the company, valued at $20,624,012.52. This represents a 11.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Trading Down 2.6%

MSFT stock traded down $12.97 during trading on Friday, reaching $495.00. 31,963,969 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 19,697,988. The business's 50 day moving average price is $509.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $450.85. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $3.68 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.04.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. 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 analysts' expectations of $73.79 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.95 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Raymond James Financial lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $490.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Microsoft from $550.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Microsoft from $530.00 to $582.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Bank of America upped 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 investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $612.54.

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.