Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Sold by InvesTrust

Key Points

• InvesTrust has reduced its stake in Microsoft Corporation by 29.5%, selling 10,688 shares, and now holds 25,546 shares, amounting to approximately $12.7 million.
• CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of Microsoft stock for over $75 million, resulting in a 15.87% decrease in his ownership position.
• Microsoft announced an increase in its quarterly dividend to $0.91 per share, reflecting a growth from the previous dividend of $0.83, with a projected annual yield of 0.7%.

InvesTrust decreased its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 29.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 25,546 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 10,688 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 4.9% of InvesTrust's portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. InvesTrust's holdings in Microsoft were worth $12,707,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. WFA Asset Management Corp lifted its stake in Microsoft by 27.0% in the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $427,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the second quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $5,658,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 410.4% during the third quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 2,659 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,144,000 after purchasing an additional 2,138 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. now owns 2,374 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,000,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 23,097 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $9,735,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.9%

NASDAQ MSFT traded up $9.48 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $517.93. The company's stock had a trading volume of 52,313,925 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,095,838. 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 capitalization of $3.85 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.04. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $555.45. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $511.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $458.31.

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 for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $73.79 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.95 EPS. Microsoft's revenue was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. This is a boost from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 24.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Loop Capital upped their price target on Microsoft from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Microsoft from $515.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Microsoft from $550.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Raymond James Financial increased their target price on Microsoft from $490.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $612.54.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $527.32, for a total value 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of Microsoft 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

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.