Fruth Investment Management Sells 360 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Fruth Investment Management cut its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 19,925 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 360 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 2.7% of Fruth Investment Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Fruth Investment Management’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $9,910,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Great Waters Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 4.9% in the second quarter. Great Waters Wealth Management now owns 5,283 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,628,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% in the second quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 22,945 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $11,413,000 after acquiring an additional 328 shares in the last quarter. CX Institutional grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 10.3% in the second quarter. CX Institutional now owns 92,824 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $46,172,000 after acquiring an additional 8,648 shares in the last quarter. Adirondack Trust Co. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the second quarter. Adirondack Trust Co. now owns 24,526 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $12,199,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Myecfo LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 8.7% during the second quarter. Myecfo LLC now owns 911 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $453,000 after buying an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft 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 transaction of $2,557,502.00. Following the completion of 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction 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 owned 790,852 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $399,206,272.56. This represents a 15.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.6%

MSFT opened at $514.60 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $512.13 and its 200-day moving average is $464.07. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $555.45. 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 cap of $3.83 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.73, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.04.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.35 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $73.79 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.15% and a return on equity of 32.44%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.95 EPS. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on MSFT shares. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $625.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, August 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased 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. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $637.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $650.00 price objective (up from $600.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, KeyCorp upgraded shares of Microsoft from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $630.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. One investment 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $614.45.

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.