Douglas Lane & Associates LLC Trims Stock Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Douglas Lane & Associates LLC lowered its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 7.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 362,141 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 28,756 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 2.6% of Douglas Lane & Associates LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $180,133,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Newton One Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 66.7% during the 1st quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $44,000. IFS Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 50.0% in the 1st quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 155.7% in the 1st quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 156 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was 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 owned 790,852 shares in the company, valued at approximately $399,206,272.56. This trade represents a 15.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of Microsoft 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 39,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,624,012.52. This trade represents 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 Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $510.02 on Thursday. 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 has a market capitalization of $3.79 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.04. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $511.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $456.20. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $73.79 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.44% and a net margin of 36.15%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.95 earnings per share. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. Analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 20th will be given a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.34%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MSFT. Westpark Capital restated a “hold” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Raymond James Financial lifted 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. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $585.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, KeyCorp raised shares of Microsoft from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $630.00 price target for the company 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $612.54.

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.