Berkeley Capital Partners LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Berkeley Capital Partners LLC trimmed its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,914 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 191 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 1.5% of Berkeley Capital Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Berkeley Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $5,598,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Newton One Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 66.7% in the first quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $44,000. IFS Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 50.0% in 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. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth approximately $62,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $506.69 on Tuesday. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $555.45. 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 firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $509.18 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $448.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.77 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.15, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.04.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 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 business had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $73.79 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.95 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $20,624,012.52. This trade represents a 11.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Loop Capital upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Wedbush upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $585.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $581.00 to $639.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $612.54.

Microsoft Company 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.