Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Stake Trimmed by Red Spruce Capital LLC

Red Spruce Capital LLC lessened its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 14,780 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 132 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 3.2% of Red Spruce Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Red Spruce Capital LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $7,352,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Newton One Investments LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 66.7% during the first 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 last quarter. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at $44,000. IFS Advisors LLC lifted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 155.7% in the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 156 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and set a $625.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, August 29th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $525.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $585.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $612.54.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 790,852 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $399,206,272.56. The trade was a 15.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 39,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,624,012.52. This represents a 11.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $517.93 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $511.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $457.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company has a market capitalization of $3.85 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.97, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.04. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.95 EPS. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be given a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio 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.