Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE Reduces Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE trimmed its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 60,561 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,592 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 5.3% of Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $30,124,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. WFA Asset Management Corp lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 27.0% during the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $427,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. increased its position in Microsoft by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,658,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 410.4% in the 3rd quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 2,659 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,144,000 after buying an additional 2,138 shares during the period. Wealth Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. now owns 2,374 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,000,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 23,097 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,735,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on MSFT. Melius Research upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $595.00 to $625.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Robert W. Baird initiated coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $600.00 price objective for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald set a $639.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Mizuho set a $640.00 price target on Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $640.00 price objective on Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $633.59.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 38,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated 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 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 790,852 shares in the company, valued at approximately $399,206,272.56. This trade represents a 15.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.4%

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $510.18 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $555.45. The company has a market capitalization of $3.79 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.29, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.02. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $514.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $495.92. 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 (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.65 by $0.48. The business had revenue of $77.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $75.49 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.47% and a net margin of 35.71%.Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.30 EPS. Microsoft has set its Q2 2026 guidance at EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.89%.

Microsoft 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.