Microsoft Corporation $MSFT is Professional Advisory Services Inc.’s Largest Position

Professional Advisory Services Inc. trimmed its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 16.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 78,910 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 15,287 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 5.3% of Professional Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its biggest position. Professional Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $39,251,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $44,343,058,000. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 564,387.1% in the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 90,549,369 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $45,040,162,000 after acquiring an additional 90,533,328 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the 1st quarter worth approximately $18,733,827,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 40,290.4% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 46,695,303 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $17,528,950,000 after acquiring an additional 46,579,693 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Microsoft by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $35,316,535,000 after acquiring an additional 11,600,470 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $514.60 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $512.13 and its 200 day moving average is $464.07. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $555.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.83 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.73, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 1.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $73.79 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.95 EPS. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Investors 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 boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 24.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Microsoft from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Wedbush upped their price target on Microsoft from $600.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Mizuho upped their price target on Microsoft from $540.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. TD Cowen upped their price target on Microsoft from $580.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price target on Microsoft from $581.00 to $639.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” 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 issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $614.45.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

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

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.