Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Stock Position Lowered by Meridian Investment Counsel Inc.

Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. lowered its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 27,024 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 53 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 3.0% of Meridian Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $10,144,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Fosun International Ltd raised its stake in Microsoft by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Fosun International Ltd now owns 6,633 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,490,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Alliance Wealth Management Group raised its stake in Microsoft by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Alliance Wealth Management Group now owns 5,617 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,368,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Guidance Point Advisors LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Guidance Point Advisors LLC now owns 4,294 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,811,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc. raised its stake in Microsoft by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc. now owns 533 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $225,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Life Planning Partners Inc raised its stake in Microsoft by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Life Planning Partners Inc now owns 540 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $228,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 39,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,624,012.52. This represents a 11.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 8,850 shares of company stock worth $4,406,512. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MSFT. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $637.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Raymond James Financial boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $490.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $612.54.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $504.24 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week 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. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.75 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.97, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.06. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $505.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $443.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.35 by $0.30. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.44% and a net margin of 36.15%.The business had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $73.79 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.95 EPS. Microsoft’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. On average, analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft’s dividend 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.