Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. Cuts Stake in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,589 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 80 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 1.0% of Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,283,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cooper Financial Group increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 58,374 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $29,036,000 after purchasing an additional 742 shares during the last quarter. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC now owns 43,993 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $21,883,000 after buying an additional 339 shares during the last quarter. FMB Wealth Management raised its position in Microsoft by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. FMB Wealth Management now owns 3,419 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,701,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. BCU Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter valued at about $594,000. Finally, Bosman Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 118.6% in the second quarter. Bosman Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,833 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,891,000 after purchasing an additional 5,335 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 value of $75,315,699.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 790,852 shares in the company, valued at approximately $399,206,272.56. This represents a 15.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $527.32, for a total value of $2,557,502.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 39,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,624,012.52. The trade was a 11.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $513.58 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $511.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $476.28. 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 company has a market capitalization of $3.82 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.65, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.03. Microsoft Corporation has a twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.95 EPS. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. 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 report on Thursday, July 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $637.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $585.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a “buy” 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 issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $618.97.

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.