Microsoft Corporation $MSFT is Naviter Wealth LLC’s 5th Largest Position

Naviter Wealth LLC reduced its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 12.7% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 48,179 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 7,031 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 3.0% of Naviter Wealth LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Naviter Wealth LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $23,965,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. PMV Capital Advisers LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 5.9% in the 2nd quarter. PMV Capital Advisers LLC now owns 359 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $178,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Seek First Inc. increased its holdings in Microsoft by 1.5% during the second quarter. Seek First Inc. now owns 1,358 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $675,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Level Financial Advisors raised its position in Microsoft by 0.8% in the second quarter. Level Financial Advisors now owns 2,680 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,333,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Red Mountain Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Red Mountain Financial LLC now owns 2,761 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,373,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Onyx Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Onyx Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,108 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,536,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $504.78, for a total value of $75,315,699.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 790,852 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $399,206,272.56. The trade was a 15.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 38,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $518.64, for a total value of $19,967,640.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 461,597 shares in the company, valued at $239,402,668.08. This trade represents a 7.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Melius Research raised their target price on Microsoft from $595.00 to $625.00 in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised their price objective on Microsoft from $550.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Microsoft from $650.00 to $625.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $637.00 to $645.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $640.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $634.47.

Microsoft Trading Up 1.8%

MSFT stock opened at $506.00 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.35. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $555.45. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $513.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $494.10. The company has a market capitalization of $3.76 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.99, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.02.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.65 by $0.48. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.71% and a return on equity of 33.47%. The firm had revenue of $77.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $75.49 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.30 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Microsoft has set its Q2 2026 guidance at EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 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.