Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Sold by Washburn Capital Management Inc.

Key Points

• Washburn Capital Management Inc. sold 897 shares of Microsoft Corporation, reducing its stake by 8.7% to a total of 9,437 shares, which are valued at approximately $3,543,000.
• Analysts remain optimistic about Microsoft, with multiple price target increases announced; Barclays set a target at $625, while Wells Fargo raised theirs to $650 from $600.
• Microsoft has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.83 per share, representing an annual yield of 0.7%, with the ex-dividend date set for August 21st.

Washburn Capital Management Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 8.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 9,437 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 897 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 2.0% of Washburn Capital Management Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Washburn Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,543,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $44,343,058,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 40,290.4% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 46,695,303 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $17,528,950,000 after buying an additional 46,579,693 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 34,643.3% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 16,837,278 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $7,096,913,000 after buying an additional 16,788,816 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant's stock worth $35,316,535,000 after acquiring an additional 11,600,470 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 684,071,705 shares of the software giant's stock worth $288,336,224,000 after acquiring an additional 10,431,988 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT traded down $3.76 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $502.93. The company's stock had a trading volume of 8,824,988 shares, compared to its average volume of 22,215,672. The company has a market cap of $3.74 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.87, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.04. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $509.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $448.54. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.35 by $0.30. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.44% and a net margin of 36.15%.The firm had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $73.79 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.95 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Microsoft's payout ratio is presently 24.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the company'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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 39,111 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Truist Financial upped their price target on Microsoft from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Loop Capital increased their target price on Microsoft from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $650.00 price target (up previously from $600.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $580.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $612.54.

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.