Barden Capital Management Inc. Trims Stock Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Barden Capital Management Inc. trimmed its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,845 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 319 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 3.9% of Barden Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Barden Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $4,400,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bulwark Capital Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter worth $32,000. Westend Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 386.7% during the second quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Newton One Investments LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 66.7% during the 1st 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. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 29.9% in the 2nd quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 126 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $630.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. DA Davidson set a $650.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $682.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Evercore ISI set a $640.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Mizuho set a $640.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $634.47.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $504.78, for a total transaction of $75,315,699.90. Following the completion of the sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 38,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider owned 461,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $239,402,668.08. The trade was a 7.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.5%

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $503.29 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $513.96 and its 200-day 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. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.74 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.80, a PEG 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.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.65 by $0.48. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.47% and a net margin of 35.71%.The business had revenue of $77.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $75.49 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.30 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. Microsoft has set its Q2 2026 guidance at EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company 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 $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.89%.

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.