Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. Sells 2,509 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. reduced its stake in Microsoft Corporation by 10.8% in Q1, owning 20,619 shares valued at $7,740,000.
• Goldman Sachs, Jefferies Financial Group, and Loop Capital have recently raised their price targets for Microsoft, with Jefferies increasing it to $675.00.
• Microsoft reported an EPS of $3.65 for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, along with an 18.1% year-over-year revenue increase to $76.44 billion.

Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 10.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,619 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 2,509 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 0.9% of Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $7,740,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Newton One Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 66.7% during the 1st 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. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at about $44,000. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Finally, IFS Advisors LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 50.0% in the 1st quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Price Performance

Microsoft stock traded down $5.28 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $498.98. 7,972,188 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 22,221,377. Microsoft Corporation has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $555.45. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $506.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $445.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 1.35. The company has a market cap of $3.71 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.57, a PEG ratio of 2.22 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.35 by $0.30. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.44% and a net margin of 36.15%.The firm had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $73.79 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.95 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $20,624,012.52. This represents a 11.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In the last quarter, insiders sold 8,850 shares of company stock worth $4,406,512. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. KeyCorp raised Microsoft from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $630.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Truist Financial upped their target price on Microsoft from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Barclays upped their price objective on Microsoft from $550.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Mizuho increased their price target on Microsoft from $540.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Wedbush raised their target price on Microsoft from $600.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $612.54.

About Microsoft

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.