Bridges Investment Management Inc. Decreases Stake in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Bridges Investment Management Inc. lessened its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 936,839 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 8,016 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 6.3% of Bridges Investment Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Bridges Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $465,993,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 564,387.1% during the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 90,549,369 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $45,040,162,000 after purchasing an additional 90,533,328 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the first quarter valued at about $18,733,827,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Microsoft by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $35,316,535,000 after buying an additional 11,600,470 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 691,386,214 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $259,539,471,000 after purchasing an additional 7,314,509 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in Microsoft by 14.1% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 49,338,953 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $18,521,349,000 after buying an additional 6,101,005 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 38,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $518.64, for a total value of $19,967,640.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 461,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $239,402,668.08. The trade was a 7.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $511.14 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $514.05 and a 200 day moving average of $495.03. The company has a market capitalization of $3.80 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.35, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.02. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $555.45. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 33.47% and a net margin of 35.71%.The firm had revenue of $77.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $75.49 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.30 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. Microsoft has set its Q2 2026 guidance at EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current 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 dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.89%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on MSFT shares. Arete Research boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $710.00 to $730.00 in a research report on Monday, October 27th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Microsoft from $640.00 to $655.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Raymond James Financial lowered their price objective on Microsoft from $630.00 to $600.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, October 24th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price target on Microsoft from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $634.47.

Microsoft 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.