Financial Advisory Partners LLC Sells 1,128 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Financial Advisory Partners LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 8.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 12,210 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,128 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 1.9% of Financial Advisory Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Financial Advisory Partners LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $6,073,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Newton One Investments LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 66.7% in the first quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Bulwark Capital Corp purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth $32,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, IFS Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 50.0% during the 1st quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT opened at $519.71 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $512.66 and a 200 day moving average of $464.83. The stock has a market cap of $3.86 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.10, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Microsoft Corporation has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.35 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $73.79 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.44% and a net margin of 36.15%.The business’s revenue was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.95 earnings per share. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate 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 dividend of $0.91 per share. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.34%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on MSFT shares. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Microsoft from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 18th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $650.00 price objective (up from $600.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Wall Street Zen downgraded Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 20th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Microsoft from $600.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $617.63.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 790,852 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $399,206,272.56. This represents a 15.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 39,111 shares in the company, 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 corporate insiders.

About Microsoft

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.