Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Sold by Van Cleef Asset Management Inc

Van Cleef Asset Management Inc decreased its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 126,561 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 1,802 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 5.4% of Van Cleef Asset Management Inc's portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Van Cleef Asset Management Inc's holdings in Microsoft were worth $47,510,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MSFT. Fosun International Ltd increased 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 valued at $2,490,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Alliance Wealth Management Group increased its stake in Microsoft by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Alliance Wealth Management Group now owns 5,617 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,368,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Guidance Point Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Guidance Point Advisors LLC now owns 4,294 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,811,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Life Planning Partners Inc increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Life Planning Partners Inc now owns 540 shares of the software giant's stock worth $228,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Core Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 1,856 shares of the software giant's stock worth $782,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MSFT. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $581.00 to $639.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. TD Securities lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $605.00 to $613.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. One research 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $612.54.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the company'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 sale, the executive vice president owned 39,111 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,624,012.52. This represents a 11.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 8,850 shares of company stock worth $4,406,512. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $502.04 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $507.06 and a 200-day moving average of $445.58. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year 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 company has a market cap of $3.73 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.06.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.15% and a return on equity of 32.44%. The company had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $73.79 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.95 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

Microsoft Company 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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