Meyer Handelman Co. Cuts Stake in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Meyer Handelman Co. reduced its stake in Microsoft Corporation by 0.8%, holding 475,528 shares valued at $236.5 million, which constitutes 7.8% of its investment portfolio.
• Analysts have increased their price targets for Microsoft, with the average target now at $618.47 and a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy."
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.91, reflecting a positive increase from the previous dividend of $0.83, with a yield of 0.7%.

Meyer Handelman Co. decreased its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 0.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 475,528 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 3,906 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 7.8% of Meyer Handelman Co.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Meyer Handelman Co.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $236,532,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 3.8% during the second quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 922,524 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $457,119,000 after buying an additional 33,382 shares during the last quarter. Morangie Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 16.8% during the second quarter. Morangie Management LLC now owns 7,742 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $3,851,000 after buying an additional 1,112 shares during the last quarter. MBE Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.9% during the second quarter. MBE Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,108 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,546,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Cadent Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.1% during the second quarter. Cadent Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,930 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,954,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kingsman Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.8% during the second quarter. Kingsman Wealth Management Inc. now owns 13,056 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $6,494,000 after buying an additional 234 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Melius Research boosted their price target on Microsoft from $595.00 to $625.00 in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Arete boosted their price target on Microsoft from $700.00 to $710.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Citigroup boosted their price target on Microsoft from $605.00 to $613.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Bank of America boosted their price target on Microsoft from $585.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Wedbush boosted their price target on Microsoft from $600.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $618.47.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $522.40 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $555.45. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $513.39 and a 200-day moving average price of $470.36. 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 has a market cap of $3.88 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.03.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.35 by $0.30. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.44% and a net margin of 36.15%.The firm had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $73.79 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm 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. Equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 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 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 20th will be given a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. This is a positive change from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Microsoft's payout ratio is currently 24.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $527.32, for a total value of $2,557,502.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 39,111 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,624,012.52. This represents a 11.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $75,315,699.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 790,852 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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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