Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Stock Holdings Decreased by Argyle Capital Management LLC

Argyle Capital Management LLC lowered its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 27,801 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 545 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 5.0% of Argyle Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Argyle Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $13,828,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bulwark Capital Corp acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the second quarter valued at about $32,000. Westend Capital Management LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 386.7% during the 2nd quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Newton One Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 66.7% during the 1st quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 29.9% in the second quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 126 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $20,624,012.52. This represents a 11.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $399,206,272.56. The trade was a 15.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI set a $640.00 price objective on Microsoft in a research report on Thursday. HSBC upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $643.00 to $648.00 in a research note on Monday, October 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $630.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $650.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $634.67.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.2%

MSFT opened at $517.03 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.84 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.77, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.03. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $514.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $489.41. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $555.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.65 by $0.48. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.71% and a return on equity of 33.47%. The company had revenue of $77.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $75.49 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.30 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. Microsoft has set its Q2 2026 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.89%.

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.