Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Sold by Vanderbilt University

Vanderbilt University cut its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 27.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 14,123 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 5,353 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 1.3% of Vanderbilt University's holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Vanderbilt University's holdings in Microsoft were worth $7,025,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 4.8% during the 2nd quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 208,507 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $103,714,000 after buying an additional 9,566 shares during the period. HighMark Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 18.6% in the second quarter. HighMark Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,721 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,851,000 after acquiring an additional 584 shares during the last quarter. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. grew its position in Microsoft by 12.0% during the second quarter. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. now owns 1,830 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $910,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares during the period. Custos Family Office LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 42.2% during the second quarter. Custos Family Office LLC now owns 2,125 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,057,000 after acquiring an additional 631 shares during the period. Finally, Yeomans Consulting Group Inc. grew its position in Microsoft by 4.1% during the second quarter. Yeomans Consulting Group Inc. now owns 3,741 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,841,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on MSFT shares. Melius Research boosted their price target on Microsoft from $595.00 to $625.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $680.00 to $682.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Microsoft from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, October 11th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $617.44.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 39,111 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,624,012.52. This trade represents a 11.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 790,852 shares in the company, valued at $399,206,272.56. The trade was a 15.87% 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 Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $520.56 on Friday. 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 50-day moving average of $511.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $479.79. The stock has a market cap of $3.87 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.16, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.03. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data 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 company 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.95 EPS. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be given a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. This is a positive change from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.