Westchester Capital Management Inc. Sells 242 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Westchester Capital Management Inc. lessened its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 72,231 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 242 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 8.5% of Westchester Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Westchester Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $35,928,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.4% in the first quarter. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 6,650 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,496,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the period. Real Talk Capital LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Real Talk Capital LLC now owns 2,290 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $860,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its stake in Microsoft by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 922,524 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $457,119,000 after purchasing an additional 33,382 shares in the last quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 39.3% in the 1st quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC now owns 144,852 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $54,376,000 after purchasing an additional 40,860 shares during the period. Finally, Well Done LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 8.9% during the 2nd quarter. Well Done LLC now owns 9,911 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,930,000 after purchasing an additional 814 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were 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 directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $19,967,640.00. Following the transaction, 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 192,555 shares of company stock valued at $97,840,842. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $496.82 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.69 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $555.45. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $513.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $493.26.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $75.49 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.30 EPS. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Microsoft has set its Q2 2026 guidance at EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be paid a $0.91 dividend. This is a positive change 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.89%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $585.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Citigroup raised their price target on Microsoft from $682.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Redburn Partners set a $560.00 price target on Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, DZ Bank reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, October 30th. One investment 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average 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.