Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Stock Position Trimmed by Prairie Sky Financial Group LLC

Prairie Sky Financial Group LLC trimmed its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 16.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,911 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 2,824 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 3.8% of Prairie Sky Financial Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Prairie Sky Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $6,919,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Newton One Investments LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 66.7% during the first quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Bulwark Capital Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth $32,000. Westend Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 386.7% in the 2nd quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 155.7% during the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 156 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the business’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 owned 790,852 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $399,206,272.56. This represents a 15.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 38,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, 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. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on MSFT shares. HSBC raised their price objective on Microsoft from $643.00 to $648.00 in a report on Monday, October 27th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $682.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Raymond James Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $630.00 to $600.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $565.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $634.47.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $511.14 on Thursday. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month 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. The company has a market capitalization of $3.80 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.02. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $514.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $495.03.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 the consensus estimate of $75.49 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.30 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. Microsoft has set its Q2 2026 guidance at EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

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

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.