Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Stock Holdings Lifted by Ritholtz Wealth Management

Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 9.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 168,691 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 13,949 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 1.9% of Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $83,909,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bulwark Capital Corp bought a new position in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth $32,000. Westend Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 386.7% during the second quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Newton One Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 66.7% in the 1st quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp lifted its position in Microsoft by 29.9% in the 2nd quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 126 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Raymond James Financial dropped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $630.00 to $600.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Mizuho set a $640.00 target price on Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $650.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $630.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $565.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $634.47.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 790,852 shares in the company, valued at approximately $399,206,272.56. This represents a 15.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 38,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the insider owned 461,597 shares in the company, valued at $239,402,668.08. The trade was a 7.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $508.68 on Wednesday. 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 business’s 50-day moving average price is $513.93 and its 200 day moving average price is $494.92. Microsoft Corporation has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $555.45. The firm has a market cap of $3.78 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.18, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.02.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $77.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $75.49 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.71% and a return on equity of 33.47%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.30 EPS. Microsoft has set its Q2 2026 guidance at EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be given a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.