Microsoft Corporation $MSFT is Pinnacle Associates Ltd.’s 3rd Largest Position

Pinnacle Associates Ltd. decreased its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 439,635 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 8,218 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 3.2% of Pinnacle Associates Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Pinnacle Associates Ltd.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $218,679,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 691,386,214 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $259,539,471,000 after buying an additional 7,314,509 shares during the period. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 564,387.1% in the second 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 period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $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 boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 2,306,485 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 9.8% during the 4th 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 during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.1%

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $486.74 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.62 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.62, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.02. 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 company’s 50 day moving average price is $509.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $500.83. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 return on equity of 33.47% and a net margin of 35.71%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.30 earnings per share. Microsoft has set its Q2 2026 guidance at EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MSFT. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Microsoft from $650.00 to $625.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Arete Research lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $710.00 to $730.00 in a research report on Monday, October 27th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $640.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Rothschild & Co Redburn reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $500.00 target price (down from $560.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on Microsoft from $682.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $634.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 38,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $518.64, for a total transaction of $19,967,640.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 461,597 shares in the company, valued at $239,402,668.08. This trade represents a 7.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.