Covestor Ltd Reduces Stock Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Covestor Ltd reduced its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,349 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 100 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 1.1% of Covestor Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Covestor Ltd’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,633,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Newton One Investments LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 66.7% during 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 during the last quarter. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $44,000. IFS Advisors LLC increased its holdings in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $62,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $504.78, for a total transaction of $75,315,699.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 790,852 shares in the company, valued at $399,206,272.56. The trade was a 15.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 39,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,624,012.52. The trade was a 11.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Microsoft from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $630.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Raymond James Financial raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $490.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $580.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $612.54.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $495.00 on Monday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $509.93 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $451.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.35. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $555.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.68 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.04.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced 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 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 the consensus estimate of $73.79 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.95 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. Analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

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.