MRA Advisory Group Trims Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• MRA Advisory Group reduced its stake in Microsoft by 14.6% in Q2, now holding 11,505 shares worth approximately $5.7 million.
• Several institutional investors have increased their stakes in Microsoft, with Richard P Slaughter Associates raising theirs by 9.9% in the same quarter.
• Microsoft announced a quarterly dividend increase from $0.83 to $0.91 per share, with a yield of 0.7%.

MRA Advisory Group trimmed its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 14.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 11,505 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 1,961 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 2.7% of MRA Advisory Group's investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position. MRA Advisory Group's holdings in Microsoft were worth $5,723,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fosun International Ltd lifted its stake in Microsoft by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Fosun International Ltd now owns 6,633 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,490,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Birchbrook Inc. increased its holdings in Microsoft by 0.4% in the first quarter. Birchbrook Inc. now owns 6,326 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,375,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Gagnon Securities LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 3.5% in the first quarter. Gagnon Securities LLC now owns 704 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $264,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the period. Alliance Wealth Management Group grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Alliance Wealth Management Group now owns 5,617 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,368,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Guidance Point Advisors LLC lifted its position 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 buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Price Performance

Microsoft stock traded up $9.48 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $517.93. 52,313,925 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,503,336. The business has a fifty day moving average of $511.71 and a 200 day moving average of $458.31. The company has a quick ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company has a market capitalization of $3.85 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.04. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.35 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $73.79 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.44% and a net margin of 36.15%.Microsoft's revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.95 EPS. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be paid a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. This is a boost from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. Microsoft's payout ratio is 24.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly 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 Microsoft stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 39,111 shares in the company, valued at $20,624,012.52. This trade represents a 11.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Microsoft from $525.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. UBS Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $650.00 target price (up from $600.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Loop Capital raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $612.54.

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.