Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Sold by WBH Advisory Inc.

Key Points

• WBH Advisory Inc. reduced its stake in Microsoft Corporation by 9.1%, owning 59,264 shares worth approximately $22.25 million, making it the firm's 8th largest position.
• Several institutional investors, including WFA Asset Management and Discipline Wealth Solutions, have increased their holdings in Microsoft, highlighting strong interest in the stock as it remains popular among hedge funds.
• Analysts have raised their price targets for Microsoft, with Piper Sandler increasing it from $600 to $650, and overall the company holds an average rating of "Moderate Buy" with a target price of $612.54.

WBH Advisory Inc. cut its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 9.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 59,264 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 5,909 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 2.1% of WBH Advisory Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. WBH Advisory Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $22,247,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MSFT. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Newton One Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 66.7% during the first quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $44,000. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $62,000. Finally, IFS Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 50.0% in the first quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.6%

NASDAQ:MSFT traded up $3.20 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $498.20. The stock had a trading volume of 16,724,087 shares, compared to its average volume of 22,227,645. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $509.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $451.09. The company has a market capitalization of $3.70 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.52, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.04. Microsoft Corporation has a twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $555.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.35 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $73.79 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.15% and a return on equity of 32.44%. The firm's revenue was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.95 earnings per share. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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 paid 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 is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MSFT. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $605.00 to $613.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Loop Capital increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $612.54.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 39,111 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,624,012.52. This trade represents a 11.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 790,852 shares in the company, valued at approximately $399,206,272.56. This trade represents a 15.87% 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.

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.