Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Position Lowered by LS Investment Advisors LLC

Key Points

• LS Investment Advisors LLC reduced its position in Microsoft by 2.1%, owning 82,294 shares worth approximately $40.93 million after selling 1,796 shares in the second quarter.
• Microsoft's quarterly earnings report showed $3.65 EPS for the quarter, outperforming analysts' estimates and achieving revenue of $76.44 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.91 per share, up from $0.83, with a dividend yield of 0.7%.

LS Investment Advisors LLC cut its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 2.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 82,294 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 1,796 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 6.0% of LS Investment Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. LS Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $40,934,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Randolph Co Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Randolph Co Inc now owns 87,738 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $43,642,000 after buying an additional 2,011 shares in the last quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at $69,000. A. D. Beadell Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. A. D. Beadell Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 5,898 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,933,000 after buying an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. CX Institutional boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 9.7% in the 2nd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 92,380 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $45,951,000 after buying an additional 8,204 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Holland Advisory Services Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 20.2% in the 2nd quarter. Holland Advisory Services Inc. now owns 3,108 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,546,000 after buying an additional 522 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Down 2.2%

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $510.96 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $513.12 and a two-hundred day moving average of $471.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 1.35. The company has a market cap of $3.80 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.46, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.03. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 net margin of 36.15% and a return on equity of 32.44%. The business's revenue was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.95 EPS. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. On average, 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. 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 payout ratio is 24.34%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 790,852 shares in the company, valued at $399,206,272.56. This trade represents a 15.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MSFT. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $637.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $585.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $581.00 to $639.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $618.47.

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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