Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI Sells 215 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI cut its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.5% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 43,826 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 215 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 1.7% of Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI’s holdings, making the stock its 20th largest position. Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $21,800,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Paragon Advisors LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 43.5% during the second quarter. Paragon Advisors LLC now owns 19,618 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,758,000 after purchasing an additional 5,951 shares in the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 7.8% during the second quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 235,111 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $116,947,000 after buying an additional 16,987 shares during the last quarter. EnRich Financial Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 5.2% in the 2nd quarter. EnRich Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,545 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $768,000 after buying an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $298,000. Finally, Principle Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Principle Wealth Partners LLC now owns 112,017 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $55,718,000 after acquiring an additional 3,155 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Daiwa Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Microsoft from $640.00 to $630.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 11th. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $625.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, August 29th. Finally, Robert W. Baird assumed coverage on Microsoft in a report on Friday, November 14th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $600.00 price target for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $634.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $399,206,272.56. This represents a 15.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 38,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $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. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $472.12 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Microsoft Corporation has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $555.45. The stock has a market cap of $3.51 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.58, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.02. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $512.88 and a 200-day moving average price of $498.82.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $77.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $75.49 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.30 EPS. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. Microsoft has set its Q2 2026 guidance at EPS. Equities analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 20th will be given a dividend of $0.91 per share. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 25.89%.

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.