Tran Capital Management L.P. Cuts Stock Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Tran Capital Management L.P. reduced its stake in Microsoft Corporation by 1.5%, now holding 132,590 shares, which accounts for about 7.8% of its total holdings.
• Following strong quarterly earnings, Microsoft announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.91 per share, up from $0.83, demonstrating its ongoing financial strength.
• Analysts have set new price targets for Microsoft stock, with estimates as high as $675.00, reflecting bullish sentiment around its performance and growth potential.

Tran Capital Management L.P. decreased its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 132,590 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 2,049 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 7.8% of Tran Capital Management L.P.'s holdings, making the stock its largest position. Tran Capital Management L.P.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $65,951,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. PMV Capital Advisers LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 5.9% during the second quarter. PMV Capital Advisers LLC now owns 359 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $178,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Guided Capital Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 0.4% in the second quarter. Guided Capital Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,405 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,688,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Fosun International Ltd lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.3% in the 1st 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 during the last quarter. Birchbrook Inc. boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Birchbrook Inc. now owns 6,326 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,375,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gagnon Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Gagnon Securities LLC now owns 704 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $264,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $519.71 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.35. The company has a market capitalization of $3.86 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.03. The business's 50-day moving average is $512.66 and its 200-day moving average is $464.83. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $73.79 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.95 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $0.91 per share. This is a positive change from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is 24.34%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the topic of several research reports. Wedbush upped their price target on Microsoft from $600.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Microsoft from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Microsoft from $580.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on Microsoft from $525.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their price target on Microsoft from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $617.63.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, 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 value of $75,315,699.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 790,852 shares in the company, valued at $399,206,272.56. The trade was a 15.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 39,111 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,624,012.52. The trade was 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.

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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