Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Stock Position Lifted by Nvest Financial LLC

Nvest Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,926 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 277 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 3.1% of Nvest Financial LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Nvest Financial LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $5,932,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Newton One Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 66.7% in the first quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Bulwark Capital Corp purchased a new position in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Westend Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 386.7% during the 2nd quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Finally, ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 155.7% in 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 38,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider owned 461,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $239,402,668.08. This trade represents a 7.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $503.29 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.74 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.80, a price-to-earnings-growth 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. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $513.96 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $495.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $77.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $75.49 billion. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.30 EPS. Microsoft has set its Q2 2026 guidance at EPS. Research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. BNP Paribas Exane lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $630.00 to $632.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Redburn Partners set a $560.00 price objective on Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Cantor Fitzgerald set a $639.00 target price on Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Guggenheim raised Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $586.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $634.47.

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.