Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Sold by Twin Capital Management Inc.

Twin Capital Management Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 0.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 130,845 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 1,128 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 5.7% of Twin Capital Management Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Twin Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $49,118,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fosun International Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the first quarter. Fosun International Ltd now owns 6,633 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,490,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Alliance Wealth Management Group lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Alliance Wealth Management Group now owns 5,617 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,368,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Guidance Point Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Guidance Point Advisors LLC now owns 4,294 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,811,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Life Planning Partners Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Life Planning Partners Inc now owns 540 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $228,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Salvus Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the first quarter. Salvus Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,161 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $3,439,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on MSFT. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $580.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Wedbush upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $637.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $525.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $612.54.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 directly owned 39,111 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,624,012.52. This trade represents a 11.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.3%

NASDAQ:MSFT traded up $1.38 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $506.73. 6,242,788 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 22,145,063. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $509.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $449.32. 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 cap of $3.77 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.15, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.04.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 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 business had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $73.79 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.95 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company 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. 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 (DPR) is presently 24.34%.

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.