Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Sold by Equita Financial Network Inc.

Equita Financial Network Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 8.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,887 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 282 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 0.6% of Equita Financial Network Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Equita Financial Network Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,436,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MSFT. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Microsoft by 1.1% in 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 during the last quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC grew its stake 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 last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Microsoft by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $35,316,535,000 after acquiring an additional 11,600,470 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 3.8% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 62,267,822 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $23,374,718,000 after acquiring an additional 2,306,485 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 59,961,337 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $25,273,704,000 after acquiring an additional 5,370,546 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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 the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $518.64, for a total transaction of $19,967,640.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 461,597 shares in the company, valued at $239,402,668.08. This represents a 7.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $504.78, for a total value of $75,315,699.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Rothschild & Co Redburn reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $500.00 price objective (down from $560.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, November 19th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Arete Research boosted their price target on Microsoft from $710.00 to $730.00 in a report on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on Microsoft from $637.00 to $645.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $634.33.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT opened at $492.12 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $555.45. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $509.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $499.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.66 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 1.35.

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

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.89%.

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.