Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Sold by Vectors Research Management LLC

Vectors Research Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 17,861 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 111 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 3.0% of Vectors Research Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Vectors Research Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $8,884,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% during 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 buying an additional 7,314,509 shares during the last quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 564,387.1% during the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 90,549,369 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $45,040,162,000 after acquiring an additional 90,533,328 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $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 holdings in shares of Microsoft by 3.8% in 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 valued at $23,374,718,000 after purchasing an additional 2,306,485 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 valued at $25,273,704,000 after purchasing an additional 5,370,546 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MSFT. Arete upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $700.00 to $710.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Robert W. Baird began coverage on Microsoft in a research report on Friday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $600.00 price target for the company. Rothschild & Co Redburn boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $550.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $650.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $650.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $633.59.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $510.18 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.79 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.02. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $555.45. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $514.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $495.92.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $77.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $75.49 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.47% and a net margin of 35.71%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.30 EPS. Microsoft has set its Q2 2026 guidance at EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 38,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of Microsoft 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 790,852 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $399,206,272.56. This trade represents a 15.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.