Ashton Thomas Securities LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 2.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 31,937 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 958 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 3.8% of Ashton Thomas Securities LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $15,886,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bulwark Capital Corp purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Westend Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 386.7% during the second quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Newton One Investments LLC grew its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, Legend Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth about $69,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.
Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft
In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $504.78, for a total value 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the business's 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 39,111 shares in the company, 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.
Microsoft Stock Up 0.6%
NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $520.54 on Thursday. 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 $3.87 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.16, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.03. Microsoft Corporation has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $555.45. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $511.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $478.67.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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%.Microsoft's quarterly revenue was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.95 earnings per share. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Microsoft Increases Dividend
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. This is a boost from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Microsoft's payout ratio is presently 24.34%.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several research firms have weighed in on MSFT. Redburn Partners set a $560.00 target price on Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday. Melius Research upped their price objective on Microsoft from $595.00 to $625.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $617.44.
Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on MSFT
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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