R Squared Ltd Lowers Stock Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

R Squared Ltd reduced its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 53.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 650 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 760 shares during the quarter. R Squared Ltd’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $244,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MSFT. WFA Asset Management Corp raised its stake in Microsoft by 27.0% in the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $427,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. grew its position in Microsoft by 0.3% during the second quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,658,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 410.4% during the third quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 2,659 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,144,000 after acquiring an additional 2,138 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. grew its position in Microsoft by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. now owns 2,374 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,000,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tallon Kerry Patrick bought a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,375,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $495.00 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $509.93 and a 200 day moving average of $450.60. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $555.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.68 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.29, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.04. 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) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 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 company had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $73.79 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.95 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid 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 yield of 0.7%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $580.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $530.00 to $582.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $612.54.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $504.78, for a total value of $75,315,699.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 790,852 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $399,206,272.56. This trade represents a 15.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was 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 directly owned 39,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,624,012.52. The trade was a 11.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.