Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Stock Position Cut by Valley Brook Capital Group Inc.

Valley Brook Capital Group Inc. lessened its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 24,696 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 499 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 9.2% of Valley Brook Capital Group Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its largest position. Valley Brook Capital Group Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $12,284,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bulwark Capital Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. Westend Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 386.7% during the 2nd quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Newton One Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 66.7% in the 1st quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth $44,000. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp lifted its position in Microsoft by 29.9% during the second quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 126 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $496.82 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $513.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $492.43. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $3.69 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.34, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.02. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $555.45.

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

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 25.89%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on 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 directly owned 39,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,624,012.52. The trade was a 11.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 38,500 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 461,597 shares in the company, valued at approximately $239,402,668.08. This represents a 7.70% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 192,555 shares of company stock worth $97,840,842 over the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Daiwa Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Microsoft from $640.00 to $630.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus set a $640.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. DA Davidson set a $650.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Melius Research upped their price target on Microsoft from $595.00 to $625.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $634.47.

Microsoft Company 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.