Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Stock Sold by SYM FINANCIAL Corp

Key Points

• SYM FINANCIAL Corp reduced its Microsoft stake by 14.7% in the second quarter, selling 3,131 shares and retaining 18,239 shares valued at approximately $6.8 million.
• Institutional investors own 71.13% of Microsoft, while analysts maintain a broadly positive outlook: 43 rate the stock Buy, with a consensus price target of $570.62 versus its $512.90 opening price.
• Microsoft reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, with $4.74 in EPS and $90.01 billion in revenue, and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.98. Insiders, including CEO Satya Nadella, sold a combined 143,009 shares worth about $71.4 million over the last quarter.

SYM FINANCIAL Corp cut its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 14.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 18,239 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 3,131 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 0.5% of SYM FINANCIAL Corp's holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. SYM FINANCIAL Corp's holdings in Microsoft were worth $6,804,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Auto Owners Insurance Co lifted its stake in Microsoft by 56,160.8% in the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 60,116,384 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $29,073,486,000 after buying an additional 60,009,531 shares in the last quarter. Amundi boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 30.8% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 41,675,076 shares of the software giant's stock worth $15,426,862,000 after buying an additional 9,814,598 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 25,300,410 shares of the software giant's stock worth $12,235,785,000 after buying an additional 458,014 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 10.5% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 29,323,744 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $10,852,884,000 after acquiring an additional 2,784,809 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 22,138,798 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $10,715,379,000 after acquiring an additional 1,599,412 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Argus lowered their price target on Microsoft from $620.00 to $510.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $440.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, September 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, September 10th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Microsoft from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the company from $530.00 to $575.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Forty-three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $570.62.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 86,525 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $501.46, for a total value of $43,388,826.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 486,763 shares of the company's stock, valued at $244,092,173.98. The trade was a 15.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $496.48, for a total transaction of $2,388,068.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 42,677 shares in the company, valued at $21,188,276.96. This trade represents a 10.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 143,009 shares of company stock worth $71,420,699 over the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.8%

MSFT opened at $512.90 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.81 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.11. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $349.20 and a one year high of $553.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.23. The business's 50 day moving average price is $484.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $428.53.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.50. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.98% and a net margin of 40.31%.The company had revenue of $90.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $87.62 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.65 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.62 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 19th will be issued a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 19th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. This is a boost from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.27%.

Key Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Piper Sandler raised its price target to $610 from $550 and maintained an Overweight rating, citing improving estimates for Microsoft’s commercial cloud business and potential revenue from the new E7 enterprise licensing tier. Why is Microsoft stock up on Wednesday?
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s revamped Copilot is becoming more enterprise-focused, while usage-based billing expected to begin in November could simplify adoption and improve monetization. Analysts also see potential for paid Copilot seats to continue expanding rapidly. What a Revamped Copilot Means for Microsoft Stock
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is bringing OpenAI’s autonomous “Dots” agents into its enterprise security and governance framework, strengthening its position in workplace AI. A long-term Xbox publishing agreement with Take-Two also supports the gaming ecosystem. Microsoft Brings OpenAI’s Autonomous Dots AI Workers Into the Enterprise
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft has delivered a substantial quarterly rally, but its valuation remains below its recent average P/E despite strong Azure growth, expanding Copilot demand and a sizable commercial backlog. This leaves room for additional upside, although expectations are already elevated. How Much Upside Is Left In Microsoft Stock?
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned that surging AI infrastructure spending could outpace free cash flow before Azure and Copilot returns fully materialize. Microsoft also warns that AI agents may weaken traditional software pricing power and customer loyalty. The AI Revolution Could Be Microsoft’s Next Trillion-Dollar Opportunity

About Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company that develops software, cloud services, devices, gaming products and business solutions. Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, the company is best known for the Windows operating system and Microsoft Office productivity software. Microsoft is headquartered in Redmond, Washington, and serves consumers, businesses, governments and educational institutions worldwide.

Microsoft's productivity and business offerings include Microsoft 365 applications such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook, along with collaboration tools including Teams.

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