CCM Investment Advisers LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 68,790 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 2,087 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 3.7% of CCM Investment Advisers LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. CCM Investment Advisers LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $34,217,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Sheets Smith Wealth Management lifted its stake in Microsoft by 9.8% during the second quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management now owns 17,063 shares of the software giant's stock worth $8,487,000 after purchasing an additional 1,516 shares during the last quarter. Waycross Partners LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 3.3% during the second quarter. Waycross Partners LLC now owns 150,898 shares of the software giant's stock worth $75,058,000 after purchasing an additional 4,755 shares during the last quarter. AM Investment Strategies LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 1.2% during the second quarter. AM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 28,855 shares of the software giant's stock worth $14,352,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Income Solutions Inc lifted its stake in Microsoft by 2.3% during the second quarter. Retirement Income Solutions Inc now owns 6,018 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,993,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LVZ Inc. lifted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Insider Transactions at Microsoft
In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 790,852 shares in the company, valued at approximately $399,206,272.56. This trade represents a 15.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 39,111 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,624,012.52. The trade was a 11.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
Several brokerages recently issued reports on MSFT. Barclays restated an "overweight" rating and set a $625.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, August 29th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Microsoft from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their target price on Microsoft from $580.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $617.63.
Check Out Our Latest Research Report on MSFT
Microsoft Trading Up 0.3%
NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $517.35 on Monday. 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 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $555.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.85 trillion, a price-to-earnings 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 200 day simple moving average of $467.74.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.35 by $0.30. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.44% and a net margin of 36.15%.The business had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $73.79 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.95 EPS. Microsoft's revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.
Microsoft Increases Dividend
The business also recently declared 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 is a positive change from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. 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%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is 24.34%.
About Microsoft
(
Free Report)
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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