Southern Capital Advisors LLC reduced its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 50.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,538 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 4,562 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 1.2% of Southern Capital Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. Southern Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,257,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Newton One Investments LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 66.7% during the 1st 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 last quarter. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Bulwark Capital Corp purchased a new position in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Westend Capital Management LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 386.7% during the 2nd quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the software giant's stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $44,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Microsoft Price Performance
Microsoft stock opened at $510.96 on Friday. The company's fifty day moving average price is $513.12 and its 200 day moving average price is $471.72. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $555.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.80 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.03. 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 announced its 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 net margin of 36.15% and a return on equity of 32.44%. The company had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $73.79 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.95 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Microsoft Increases Dividend
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 20th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. This is an increase from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Microsoft's payout ratio is presently 24.34%.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of brokerages have recently commented on MSFT. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $625.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, August 29th. DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $605.00 to $613.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $640.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $618.47.
View Our Latest Stock Report on Microsoft
Insider Activity
In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were 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 represents a 11.03% 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, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $504.78, for a total transaction of $75,315,699.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 790,852 shares in the company, valued at $399,206,272.56. This trade represents a 15.87% 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 insiders.
Microsoft Company Profile
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Free Report)
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.
Further Reading
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