Northeast Financial Group Inc. Lowers Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Northeast Financial Group Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 14.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,095 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 884 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 0.7% of Northeast Financial Group Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position. Northeast Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,535,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bulwark Capital Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter worth $32,000. Westend Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 386.7% in 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 during the period. Newton One Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 66.7% in 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 during the period. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, Legend Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter valued at $69,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $516.79 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.84 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.03. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $555.45. The company's fifty day moving average is $511.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $478.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 1.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.35 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $73.79 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.15% and a return on equity of 32.44%. The firm'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. Equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 39,111 shares in the company, valued at $20,624,012.52. This trade represents a 11.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Barclays restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $625.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, August 29th. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Microsoft from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $630.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Raymond James Financial upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $490.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $618.97.

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.

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