Microsoft Corporation $MSFT is Cigna Investments Inc. New’s 2nd Largest Position

Cigna Investments Inc. New lowered its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 72,386 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,842 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 6.1% of Cigna Investments Inc. New’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Cigna Investments Inc. New’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $36,005,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in MSFT. tru Independence LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 11.3% in the 2nd quarter. tru Independence LLC now owns 11,618 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,779,000 after purchasing an additional 1,180 shares during the period. BCS Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 26.1% during the second quarter. BCS Wealth Management now owns 8,869 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,412,000 after purchasing an additional 1,834 shares in the last quarter. Charter Capital Management LLC DE purchased a new position in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at about $885,000. Bannerman Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $532,000. Finally, Boyce & Associates Wealth Consulting Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter worth approximately $215,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Up 2.2%

Microsoft stock opened at $528.57 on Tuesday. 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 twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $555.45. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $513.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $468.70. The firm has a market cap of $3.93 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.03.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.35 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $76.44 billion for 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.95 earnings per share. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal 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 given a $0.91 dividend. 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 dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 24.34%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 790,852 shares in the company, valued at $399,206,272.56. This trade represents a 15.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the company’s 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 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. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $650.00 price objective (up from $600.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Arete increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $700.00 to $710.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Microsoft from $550.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Microsoft from $582.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $618.47.

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.