U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC Sells 9,291 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC has reduced its stake in Microsoft by 7.0%, selling 9,291 shares during the second quarter, now holding 122,937 shares worth approximately $61.15 million.
• Recent analyst upgrades have raised Microsoft's price targets, with firms like TD Cowen and Scotiabank targeting prices up to $650.00, while the average target price is around $617.63.
• Microsoft has announced an increase in its quarterly dividend from $0.83 to $0.91, which will be payable on December 11th, reflecting a commitment to returning value to shareholders.

U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC lowered its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 7.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 122,937 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 9,291 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 1.8% of U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $61,150,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. LCM Capital Management Inc grew its stake in Microsoft by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter. LCM Capital Management Inc now owns 22,001 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $10,944,000 after acquiring an additional 877 shares during the period. Painted Porch Advisors LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Painted Porch Advisors LLC now owns 5,836 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,903,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the period. Lighthouse Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in Microsoft by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter. Lighthouse Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,337 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,162,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the period. Cobblestone Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 6.3% in the 2nd quarter. Cobblestone Asset Management LLC now owns 1,645 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $818,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the period. Finally, Narus Financial Partners LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. Narus Financial Partners LLC now owns 3,724 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,853,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Melius Research lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $595.00 to $625.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Microsoft from $600.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Microsoft from $580.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Mizuho raised their price objective on Microsoft from $540.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $617.63.

Insider Activity

In related 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 value of $2,557,502.00. Following the sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the business's 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 790,852 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 Stock Down 0.8%

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $515.74 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week 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. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $512.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $465.70. The firm has a market cap of $3.83 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.03.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.35 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.95 EPS. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current 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%.

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.

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