Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI Reduces Stake in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI reduced its stake in Microsoft Corporation by 31.9%, now owning 132,882 shares valued at approximately $66 million, making Microsoft its 4th largest holding.
• In Q2, several investors increased their stakes in Microsoft, with Westend Capital Management boosting its share ownership by 386.7%.
• Microsoft recently announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.91 per share, with the ex-dividend date set for November 20th, representing a 0.7% yield.

Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI cut its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 31.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 132,882 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 62,185 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 4.1% of Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI's investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI's holdings in Microsoft were worth $66,097,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Newton One Investments LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 66.7% in the 1st quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Bulwark Capital Corp bought a new position in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth about $32,000. Westend Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 386.7% in the 2nd quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the software giant's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, IFS Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 50.0% in the 1st quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant's stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the firm'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 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 $20,624,012.52. This trade represents a 11.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the firm'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 directly owned 790,852 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $650.00 price target (up previously from $600.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Microsoft from $600.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $625.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, August 29th. Raymond James Financial lifted their price target on Microsoft from $490.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $618.97.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $517.66 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.85 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.95, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.03. The business's fifty day moving average is $511.49 and its 200 day moving average is $478.38. Microsoft Corporation has a twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $555.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.35 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $76.44 billion for 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 quarterly revenue was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.95 earnings per share. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. Research analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. This is a boost from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.34%.

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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