2,537 Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Sold by Resolute Advisors LLC

Resolute Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 57.3% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,892 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 2,537 shares during the period. Resolute Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $706,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MSFT. Frankly Finances LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Bard Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter worth approximately $37,000. PMV Capital Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft in the second quarter valued at $38,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 37.4% during the 2nd quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. now owns 125 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Persistent Asset Partners Ltd bought a new position in Microsoft during the second quarter worth $60,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on MSFT shares. Evercore upgraded shares of Microsoft from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 5th. KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, September 3rd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 20th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Microsoft from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley downgraded Microsoft from an “overweight” rating to a “negative” rating in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Forty-three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $594.11.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 86,525 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $501.46, for a total transaction of $43,388,826.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 486,763 shares in the company, valued at $244,092,173.98. This trade represents a 15.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $487.89, for a total transaction of $4,878,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 100,447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $49,007,086.83. The trade was a 9.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 150,314 shares of company stock valued at $75,404,992 over the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is offering voluntary buyouts to approximately 60,000 employees in the U.S., Canada, India and the U.K. The program is aimed at reducing costs and reallocating resources toward artificial intelligence, data centers and other strategic priorities. Investors appear to view the move as a way to help offset the company’s substantial AI infrastructure spending. Microsoft offers voluntary buyouts to 60,000 employees
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts raised their price targets ahead of earnings. Oppenheimer lifted its target to $625 from $570, while Truist raised its target to $600 from $575 and maintained a Buy rating, citing resilient Azure growth and strong enterprise demand. Oppenheimer raises Microsoft target ahead of earnings
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street expects continued momentum in Azure and Copilot monetization. Microsoft reports fiscal first-quarter results on October 28, making cloud growth, AI demand and spending efficiency important near-term catalysts. Microsoft stock gains as Wall Street sees Azure growth

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $532.60 on Tuesday. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $349.20 and a 12-month high of $553.72. The business’s fifty day moving average is $508.43 and its 200 day moving average is $437.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The stock has a market cap of $3.96 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.10.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.50. The business had revenue of $90.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $87.62 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 31.98%. Microsoft’s revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.65 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.66 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 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 19th will be paid a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 19th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 20.27%.

Microsoft Company Profile

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is a global technology company that develops software, cloud services, devices and digital platforms. Its products and services are used by consumers, businesses, governments and educational institutions worldwide.

The company’s principal offerings include the Windows operating system; Microsoft 365 productivity applications such as Word, Excel, Teams and Outlook; Azure cloud computing and infrastructure services; Dynamics business applications; and enterprise security solutions.