Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Sold by St. Clair Advisors LLC

Key Points

• St. Clair Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Microsoft by 1.5%, selling 850 shares, and now holds 54,093 shares valued at approximately $26.9 million.
• Microsoft reported $3.65 earnings per share for the quarter, exceeding analysts' estimates, and revenue increased by 18.1% year-over-year to $76.44 billion.
• The company announced an increase in its quarterly dividend to $0.91 per share, with the payment scheduled for December 11th, reflecting a positive change from the previous dividend of $0.83.

St. Clair Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 54,093 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 850 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 7.0% of St. Clair Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. St. Clair Advisors LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $26,906,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fosun International Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the first quarter. Fosun International Ltd now owns 6,633 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,490,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Birchbrook Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% in the first quarter. Birchbrook Inc. now owns 6,326 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,375,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Gagnon Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 3.5% in the first quarter. Gagnon Securities LLC now owns 704 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $264,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Alliance Wealth Management Group boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Alliance Wealth Management Group now owns 5,617 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,368,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Guidance Point Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Guidance Point Advisors LLC now owns 4,294 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,811,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of Microsoft 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 39,111 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,624,012.52. This 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 company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MSFT. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Microsoft from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $630.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $525.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $612.54.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT traded up $9.48 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $517.93. 52,313,925 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 19,095,838. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $511.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $457.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.85 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.04. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $555.45. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.35 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $73.79 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.15% and a return on equity of 32.44%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.95 EPS. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Stockholders 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%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. This is a positive change from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Microsoft's payout ratio is 24.34%.

About Microsoft

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.