Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Sold by Northwest Financial Advisors

by · The Markets Daily

Northwest Financial Advisors lessened its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report) by 86.5% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,340 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 14,930 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 1.6% of Northwest Financial Advisors’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Northwest Financial Advisors’ holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,164,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Microsoft by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 691,386,214 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $259,539,471,000 after purchasing an additional 7,314,509 shares during the period. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 564,387.1% in the second quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 90,549,369 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $45,040,162,000 after purchasing an additional 90,533,328 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $35,316,535,000 after purchasing an additional 11,600,470 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 3.8% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 62,267,822 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $23,374,718,000 after buying an additional 2,306,485 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 59,961,337 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $25,273,704,000 after buying an additional 5,370,546 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $492.12 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $509.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $500.26. The firm has a market cap of $3.66 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.02. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $555.45. 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 (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report) last issued 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. The business had revenue of $77.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $75.49 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.71% and a return on equity of 33.47%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.30 earnings per share. Microsoft has set its Q2 2026 guidance at EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 25.89%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, 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 transaction of $19,967,640.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 461,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $239,402,668.08. This represents a 7.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 790,852 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $399,206,272.56. This represents a 15.87% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on MSFT. Arete boosted their price target on Microsoft from $700.00 to $710.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Daiwa Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Microsoft from $640.00 to $630.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 7th. DA Davidson set a $650.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $634.33.

Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on Microsoft

Microsoft Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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