Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Holdings Decreased by Hall Laurie J Trustee

Key Points

• Hall Laurie J Trustee reduced its Microsoft holdings by 1.0%, now owning 57,568 shares valued at approximately $28.6 million, making it the fund's largest investment.
• CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of Microsoft stock, representing a 15.87% decrease in his ownership, while the company recently declared an increased quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share.
• Microsoft's stock has experienced active trading, opening at $517.35, with analysts rating it as a "Moderate Buy" and setting an average target price of $617.63.

Hall Laurie J Trustee decreased its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 57,568 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 593 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 9.5% of Hall Laurie J Trustee's investment portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Hall Laurie J Trustee's holdings in Microsoft were worth $28,635,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. LVZ Inc. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 3.0% during the second quarter. LVZ Inc. now owns 4,593 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,285,000 after acquiring an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. MCF Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.8% during the second quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 31,246 shares of the software giant's stock worth $15,542,000 after acquiring an additional 553 shares during the last quarter. Hyperion Asset Management Ltd boosted its position in Microsoft by 20.6% in the second quarter. Hyperion Asset Management Ltd now owns 719,899 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $358,085,000 after buying an additional 123,082 shares during the last quarter. Covea Finance boosted its position in Microsoft by 18.1% in the second quarter. Covea Finance now owns 388,937 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $193,461,000 after buying an additional 59,689 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hidden Cove Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 4.1% in the second quarter. Hidden Cove Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,202 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $4,080,000 after buying an additional 322 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $504.78, for a total transaction 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. This represents a 15.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the 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 owned 39,111 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,624,012.52. This represents a 11.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of MSFT opened at $517.35 on Monday. Microsoft Corporation has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $555.45. The company has a market capitalization of $3.85 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.03. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $512.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $467.74. 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 (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.35 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $73.79 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.44% and a net margin of 36.15%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.95 EPS. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $650.00 target price (up previously from $600.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Microsoft from $550.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $640.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Microsoft from $605.00 to $613.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $617.63.

About Microsoft

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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