BLB&B Advisors LLC Sells 2,210 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

BLB&B Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.4% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 150,554 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 2,210 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 3.5% of BLB&B Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. BLB&B Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $74,887,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp now owns 167,243 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $83,188,000 after acquiring an additional 746 shares in the last quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 29.2% during the second quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 93,294 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $46,406,000 after purchasing an additional 21,096 shares during the last quarter. Evergreen Advisors LLC bought a new position in Microsoft in the second quarter valued at approximately $260,000. Arbor Capital Management Inc. ADV increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 6.3% during the 2nd quarter. Arbor Capital Management Inc. ADV now owns 6,084 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,198,000 after purchasing an additional 360 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Coign Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Coign Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,614 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,798,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $486.74 on Tuesday. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month high of $555.45. The business has a 50 day moving average of $509.39 and a 200-day moving average of $500.83. 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 cap of $3.62 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.02.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released 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. The business had revenue of $77.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $75.49 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.47% and a net margin of 35.71%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.30 EPS. Microsoft has set its Q2 2026 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. 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 dividend yield of 0.7%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.89%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $625.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, August 29th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $640.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. DZ Bank reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Arete lifted their price target on Microsoft from $700.00 to $710.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $634.33.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 38,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 461,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $239,402,668.08. This trade represents a 7.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated 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 $399,206,272.56. This trade represents a 15.87% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.