Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Sold by Natural Investments LLC

Natural Investments LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.3% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 50,369 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,179 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 6.5% of Natural Investments LLC’s holdings, making the stock its biggest holding. Natural Investments LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $25,054,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Newton One Investments LLC lifted its position 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 valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Bulwark Capital Corp acquired a new position in Microsoft in the second quarter valued at about $32,000. Westend Capital Management LLC lifted its position in 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 acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 155.7% during the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 156 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 790,852 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $399,206,272.56. This trade represents a 15.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $2,557,502.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 39,111 shares in the company, valued at $20,624,012.52. This trade represents a 11.03% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 192,555 shares of company stock valued at $97,840,842. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $497.10 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock has a market cap of $3.69 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.36, 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 business has a 50-day simple moving average of $514.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $490.60.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.65 by $0.48. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.47% and a net margin of 35.71%.The company had revenue of $77.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $75.49 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.30 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Microsoft has set its Q2 2026 guidance at EPS. Analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share 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 given a $0.91 dividend. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.89%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $585.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $650.00 to $625.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and set a $625.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, August 29th. Loop Capital lifted their price target on Microsoft from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price objective on Microsoft from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $634.59.

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.