Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Sold by Dale Q Rice Investment Management Ltd

Dale Q Rice Investment Management Ltd lowered its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 45.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 4,013 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 3,343 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 1.7% of Dale Q Rice Investment Management Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Dale Q Rice Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,029,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 564,387.1% in the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 90,549,369 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $45,040,162,000 after acquiring an additional 90,533,328 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the first quarter worth $18,733,827,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $35,316,535,000 after purchasing an additional 11,600,470 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 691,386,214 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $259,539,471,000 after purchasing an additional 7,314,509 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 14.1% in 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 purchasing an additional 6,101,005 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of MSFT opened at $510.18 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $514.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $496.63. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $3.79 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.02. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $555.45.

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

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be given a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.89%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Citigroup upped their target price on Microsoft from $682.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Microsoft from $565.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $640.00 price objective on Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $633.59.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the 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 in the company, valued at $399,206,272.56. This represents a 15.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 38,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $518.64, for a total value of $19,967,640.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 461,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $239,402,668.08. This trade represents a 7.70% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.