Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Sold by Greenwood Gearhart Inc.

Greenwood Gearhart Inc. reduced its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 107,135 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 1,138 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 2.8% of Greenwood Gearhart Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Greenwood Gearhart Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $40,218,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 1.4% in the first quarter. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 6,650 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,496,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Services Inc. now owns 17,426 shares of the software giant's stock worth $7,345,000 after acquiring an additional 1,268 shares during the period. Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. lifted its position in Microsoft by 147.9% in the 4th quarter. Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. now owns 1,748 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $737,000 after purchasing an additional 1,043 shares during the last quarter. Intellus Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at about $16,075,000. Finally, Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 54,910 shares of the software giant's stock worth $23,144,000 after purchasing an additional 2,014 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MSFT shares. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Microsoft from $580.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Microsoft from $530.00 to $582.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on Microsoft from $581.00 to $639.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Microsoft from $550.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $605.00 to $613.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $612.54.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was 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 $20,624,012.52. This represents a 11.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $505.12 on Wednesday. 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. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $509.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $448.93. The company has a market capitalization of $3.75 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.03, 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 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.35 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $73.79 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.15% and a return on equity of 32.44%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.95 earnings per share. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's payout ratio 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.

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