Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Sold by Paragon Capital Management LLC

Key Points

• Paragon Capital Management LLC reduced its holdings in Microsoft by 4.7%, selling 2,037 shares to hold 41,761 shares, representing about 9.0% of its investment portfolio.
• Microsoft's quarterly earnings surpassed expectations, with earnings per share of $3.65 and revenue of $76.44 billion, up 18.1% year-over-year.
• The company will pay a quarterly dividend of $0.83 per share on September 11th, with a current annualized dividend yield of 0.7%.

Paragon Capital Management LLC lowered its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 4.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 41,761 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 2,037 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 9.0% of Paragon Capital Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Paragon Capital Management LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $15,677,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Newton One Investments LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 66.7% in the 1st quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at $44,000. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $62,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.6%

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $506.69 on Monday. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $555.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.35. The firm has a market cap of $3.77 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.04. The stock's 50-day moving average is $508.77 and its 200-day moving average is $447.85.

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 for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.35 by $0.30. The firm 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 business's revenue was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.95 earnings per share. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.34%.

Insider Activity

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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 39,111 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,624,012.52. This trade represents a 11.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on MSFT shares. 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. UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $650.00 target price (up previously from $600.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Wedbush upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on Microsoft from $540.00 to $637.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $612.54.

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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