Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Stock Position Cut by Advisors Capital Management LLC

Advisors Capital Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 5.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 565,820 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 30,979 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 3.3% of Advisors Capital Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Advisors Capital Management LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $212,403,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Newton One Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 66.7% during the first quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth approximately $44,000. IFS Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 50.0% during the first quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant's stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 155.7% during the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 156 shares of the software giant's stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

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

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT stock opened at $509.90 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.79 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.38, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.04. Microsoft Corporation has a twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $555.45. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $510.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $454.62. 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 (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 the consensus estimate of $3.35 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $73.79 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.44% and a net margin of 36.15%.The company's revenue was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.95 earnings per share. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Microsoft from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $630.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Wedbush upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $625.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, August 29th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an "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 issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $612.54.

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.