Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Sold by BNC Wealth Management LLC

BNC Wealth Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 37,793 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 28 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 5.6% of BNC Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. BNC Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $18,798,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bulwark Capital Corp acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth $32,000. Westend Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 386.7% during the 2nd quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Newton One Investments LLC increased its stake 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 worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth $44,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $517.35 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $3.85 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.03. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $512.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $467.74. 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 Corporation has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week 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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.35 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $73.79 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.15% and a return on equity of 32.44%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.95 earnings per share. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. Analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be paid a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 24.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of Microsoft 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 transaction, the chief executive officer 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 is available through the SEC website. 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 completion of 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $637.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $650.00 target price (up from $600.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $650.00 price target (up from $600.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $617.63.

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.