World Equity Group Inc. Sells 8,739 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

World Equity Group Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 22.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 29,363 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 8,739 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 4.0% of World Equity Group Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. World Equity Group Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $14,605,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 6,650 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,496,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Real Talk Capital LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 1.6% during the first quarter. Real Talk Capital LLC now owns 2,290 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $860,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. Modern Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 39.3% in the first quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC now owns 144,852 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $54,376,000 after purchasing an additional 40,860 shares during the last quarter. Lantz Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.5% in the second quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 24,210 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $12,042,000 after purchasing an additional 580 shares during the period. Finally, Bridgeway Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 8.3% during the 1st quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 86,477 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $32,463,000 after buying an additional 6,617 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Saturday, September 27th. TD Cowen increased their target price on Microsoft from $580.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Westpark Capital restated a “hold” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Microsoft from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $640.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday. One 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $618.47.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $528.57 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.93 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.75, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.03. 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 business’s 50-day moving average price is $513.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $468.70. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month 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. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.15% and a return on equity of 32.44%. The business had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $73.79 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.95 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 20th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. This is a positive change 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.34%.

Insider Activity

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 the business’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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 790,852 shares in the company, valued at approximately $399,206,272.56. This trade represents a 15.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Company 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.