Hourglass Capital LLC Cuts Stock Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Hourglass Capital LLC lessened its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 14,095 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 412 shares during the quarter. Hourglass Capital LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $5,291,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Newton One Investments LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 66.7% in the 1st quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth $44,000. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth $62,000. Finally, IFS Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 50.0% during the first quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of MSFT opened at $507.23 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month high of $555.45. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $506.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $444.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.77 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.06.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $73.79 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.95 earnings per share. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.34%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $650.00 target price (up previously from $600.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $585.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $612.54.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft 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 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders have sold a total of 8,850 shares of company stock valued at $4,406,512 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.