Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Sold by Wealth Effects LLC

Key Points

• Wealth Effects LLC has reduced its stake in Microsoft by 4.2%, owning 16,949 shares valued at approximately $8.43 million, marking it as the fund's 7th largest holding.
• Microsoft's Q1 2026 earnings guidance is set at an estimated EPS of 13.08, with the company reporting a quarterly earnings of $3.65, surpassing analysts' predictions.
• Microsoft declared a quarterly dividend of $0.91, which will be paid on December 11th, reflecting an increase from the previous $0.83 dividend.

Wealth Effects LLC reduced its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 16,949 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 749 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 3.2% of Wealth Effects LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Wealth Effects LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $8,431,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. McCarthy & Cox lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter. McCarthy & Cox now owns 1,079 shares of the software giant's stock worth $537,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 5.9% in the 2nd quarter. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 69,306 shares of the software giant's stock worth $34,896,000 after purchasing an additional 3,853 shares during the last quarter. Evanson Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter. Evanson Asset Management LLC now owns 28,397 shares of the software giant's stock worth $14,125,000 after purchasing an additional 1,075 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 6.8% in the 2nd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 3,407,878 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,695,113,000 after purchasing an additional 218,070 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hartmann Taylor Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Hartmann Taylor Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,110 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,045,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT opened at $523.98 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.89 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $555.45. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $513.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $469.08.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 quarterly revenue was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.95 earnings per share. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 20th will be paid a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. This is a positive change from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Microsoft's payout ratio is presently 24.34%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Microsoft from $600.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Citigroup lifted their price target on Microsoft from $605.00 to $613.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Arete lifted their price target on Microsoft from $700.00 to $710.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price target on Microsoft from $540.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $618.47.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 39,111 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,624,012.52. The trade was a 11.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $504.78, for a total value of $75,315,699.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 790,852 shares in the company, valued at approximately $399,206,272.56. This represents a 15.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.

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