Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Sold by Meridian Financial LLC

Meridian Financial LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,073 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 64 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 2.3% of Meridian Financial LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Meridian Financial LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,518,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. PMV Capital Advisers LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 5.9% during the 2nd quarter. PMV Capital Advisers LLC now owns 359 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $178,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Seek First Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Seek First Inc. now owns 1,358 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $675,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Level Financial Advisors lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Level Financial Advisors now owns 2,680 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,333,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Guided Capital Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Guided Capital Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,405 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,688,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the period. Finally, Great Oak Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Great Oak Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,298 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,157,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $524.85 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $513.61 and its 200 day moving average price is $469.46. Microsoft Corporation has a twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $555.45. The company has a market capitalization of $3.90 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 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.

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 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 firm had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $73.79 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.95 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 payout ratio is presently 24.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the business’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 value of $2,557,502.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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 transaction 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. The trade was a 15.87% 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 research firms have recently commented on MSFT. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $605.00 to $613.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $625.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, August 29th. Westpark Capital reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.