Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Stake Trimmed by Chicago Capital LLC

Key Points

• Chicago Capital LLC has reduced its stake in Microsoft Corporation by 9.1% during the second quarter, owning 253,112 shares valued at approximately $125.9 million, making it the firm's fifth largest position.
• Multiple hedge funds have adjusted their positions in Microsoft, with Newton One Investments LLC increasing its stake by 66.7% and other firms like Westend Capital Management raising theirs by as much as 386.7% during the same period.
• Microsoft will increase its quarterly dividend from $0.83 to $0.91 per share, indicating strong financial health, with a payout ratio of 24.34%.

Chicago Capital LLC lessened its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 9.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 253,112 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 25,384 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 3.1% of Chicago Capital LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Chicago Capital LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $125,900,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Newton One Investments LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 66.7% during the first quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Bulwark Capital Corp purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the second quarter valued at $32,000. Westend Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 386.7% during the second quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, IFS Advisors LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 50.0% during the first quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $625.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, August 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $640.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Microsoft from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, October 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $618.97.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $504.78, for a total transaction of $75,315,699.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 790,852 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $399,206,272.56. This represents a 15.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 39,111 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,624,012.52. The trade was a 11.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $513.58 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 stock has a market cap of $3.82 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.65, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.03. The firm's 50-day moving average is $511.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $476.28. 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 earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 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 the consensus estimate of $73.79 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.15% and a return on equity of 32.44%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.95 EPS. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 20th will be issued 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 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MSFT? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report).

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.