Microsoft Corporation $MSFT is Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s Largest Position

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 9.0% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 91,580 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,581 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 3.1% of Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $45,553,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 473,560 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $235,553,000 after purchasing an additional 17,682 shares during the last quarter. Endowment Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in Microsoft by 11.5% during the second quarter. Endowment Wealth Management Inc. now owns 5,230 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,601,000 after buying an additional 541 shares in the last quarter. Delaney Dennis R raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% in the second quarter. Delaney Dennis R now owns 23,101 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $11,491,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.6% in the second quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 642,282 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $319,477,000 after acquiring an additional 3,900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Concord Asset Management LLC VA boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 38.3% during the second quarter. Concord Asset Management LLC VA now owns 38,984 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $19,391,000 after acquiring an additional 10,803 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 38,500 shares of the business’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 transaction of $19,967,640.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly 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. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $527.32, for a total transaction 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 approximately $20,624,012.52. This represents a 11.03% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 192,555 shares of company stock valued at $97,840,842. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James Financial cut their target price 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. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $585.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Arete Research raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $710.00 to $730.00 in a research report on Monday, October 27th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Microsoft from $650.00 to $625.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $625.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $634.47.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $496.82 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.69 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.02. 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 firm has a fifty day moving average of $513.88 and a 200-day moving average of $493.26. Microsoft Corporation has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $77.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $75.49 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.30 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter 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 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.