Folger Nolan Fleming Douglas Capital Management Inc. Cuts Stake in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Folger Nolan Fleming Douglas Capital Management Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 91,813 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 2,914 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 5.1% of Folger Nolan Fleming Douglas Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Folger Nolan Fleming Douglas Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $45,669,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Bulwark Capital Corp bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter worth about $32,000. Westend Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 386.7% during the 2nd 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 grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 66.7% during 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 in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 29.9% in the second quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 126 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $560.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. BNP Paribas Exane lifted their target price on Microsoft from $630.00 to $632.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Mizuho set a $640.00 price target on Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $640.00 price target on Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $634.59.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 trade represents a 15.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $527.32, for a total value of $2,557,502.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 39,111 shares in the company, valued at $20,624,012.52. The trade was a 11.03% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 192,555 shares of company stock worth $97,840,842. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $497.10 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month high of $555.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.69 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.02. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $514.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $490.60. The company has a quick ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted 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 business had revenue of $77.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $75.49 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.30 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Microsoft has set its Q2 2026 guidance at EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 25.89%.

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.