Forbes J M & Co. LLP Sells 1,586 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Forbes J M & Co. LLP cut its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 156,353 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,586 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 7.1% of Forbes J M & Co. LLP’s portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Forbes J M & Co. LLP’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $77,772,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Newton One Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 period. Bulwark Capital Corp acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the second quarter worth $32,000. Westend Capital Management LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 386.7% in the second 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 period. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $44,000. Finally, IFS Advisors LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 50.0% in the first quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $527.32, for a total transaction of $2,557,502.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 39,111 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,624,012.52. This trade represents a 11.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $504.78, for a total transaction of $75,315,699.90. Following 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $637.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “buy” rating and issued a $640.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $618.97.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.4%

MSFT stock opened at $513.58 on Monday. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $555.45. The company has a market capitalization of $3.82 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.03. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $511.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $477.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.35 by $0.30. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.15% and a return on equity of 32.44%. The company had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $73.79 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.95 EPS. Microsoft’s revenue was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be given a dividend of $0.91 per share. This is a positive change 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 dividend yield of 0.7%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 24.34%.

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.