Analyst IMS Investment Management Services Ltd. Trims Stock Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Analyst IMS Investment Management Services Ltd. lowered its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 51,274 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,016 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 0.9% of Analyst IMS Investment Management Services Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position. Analyst IMS Investment Management Services Ltd.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $25,504,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Bulwark Capital Corp bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth $32,000. Westend Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 386.7% during the second 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. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth $44,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 155.7% during the 1st quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 156 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the period. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 29.9% during the 2nd 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 Activity at Microsoft

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 790,852 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $399,206,272.56. This represents a 15.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 38,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 461,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $239,402,668.08. The trade was a 7.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $625.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, August 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Microsoft from $640.00 to $655.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $650.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $634.33.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $492.12 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.66 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.02. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $509.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $500.26. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.65 by $0.48. The firm 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%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.30 EPS. Microsoft has set its Q2 2026 guidance at EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 20th will be paid a $0.91 dividend. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.89%.

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.