Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Sold by Strategent Financial LLC

Strategent Financial LLC decreased its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 6.0% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,709 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 110 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 0.7% of Strategent Financial LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Strategent Financial LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $850,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Newton One Investments LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 66.7% during the first quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Bulwark Capital Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter worth $32,000. Westend Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 386.7% in the 2nd quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC grew its position 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 valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 38,500 shares of the company’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 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 filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $511.14 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $3.80 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.02. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $514.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $495.03. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $555.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.65 by $0.48. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.71% and a return on equity of 33.47%. The firm had revenue of $77.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $75.49 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.30 EPS. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. Microsoft has set its Q2 2026 guidance at EPS. Equities analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current 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 issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. This is a positive change 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 is presently 25.89%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Scotiabank raised their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Loop Capital upped their price objective on Microsoft from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $630.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $640.00 to $630.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $634.47.

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.