Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Stake Reduced by Financial Insights Inc.

Financial Insights Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 48,337 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,177 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 8.8% of Financial Insights Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Financial Insights Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $24,043,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MSFT. Newton One Investments LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 66.7% during the 1st quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Bulwark Capital Corp bought a new position in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. Westend Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 386.7% during the 2nd quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, IFS Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 50.0% during the 1st quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $625.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, August 29th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday. Bank of America increased their price objective 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. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock 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-three have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $617.44.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 39,111 shares in the company, valued at $20,624,012.52. This trade represents a 11.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 790,852 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $399,206,272.56. This represents 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 owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.6%

MSFT stock opened at $523.61 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $511.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $481.83. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $555.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 1.35. The firm has a market cap of $3.89 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.03.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $73.79 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.15% and a return on equity of 32.44%. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.95 earnings per share. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 20th will be given a $0.91 dividend. This is a boost 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%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 24.34%.

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.