MCF Advisors LLC Reduces Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

MCF Advisors LLC trimmed its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 2.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 30,693 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 714 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 0.8% of MCF Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position. MCF Advisors LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $11,522,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Newton One Investments LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 66.7% during the 1st quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $44,000. IFS Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 50.0% during the 1st quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant's stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at $62,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owned 39,111 shares in the company, valued at $20,624,012.52. This trade represents a 11.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MSFT. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Microsoft from $580.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Microsoft from $550.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Microsoft from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $585.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $612.54.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of Microsoft stock traded up $0.23 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $505.35. 16,201,675 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 20,029,184. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $509.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $449.32. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $555.45. The company has a market cap of $3.76 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 1.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $73.79 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.95 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. Equities analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is 24.34%.

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.