Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Sold by Benedict Financial Advisors Inc.

Benedict Financial Advisors Inc. decreased its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 37,282 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,199 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 3.2% of Benedict Financial Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Benedict Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $13,995,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fosun International Ltd boosted its position in Microsoft by 0.3% in the first quarter. Fosun International Ltd now owns 6,633 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,490,000 after buying an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Alliance Wealth Management Group boosted its position in Microsoft by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Alliance Wealth Management Group now owns 5,617 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,368,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Guidance Point Advisors LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Guidance Point Advisors LLC now owns 4,294 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,811,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Orin Green Financial LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 1.2% in the first quarter. Orin Green Financial LLC now owns 2,136 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $767,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Life Planning Partners Inc boosted its position in Microsoft by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Life Planning Partners Inc now owns 540 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $228,000 after buying an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $505.35 on Thursday. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $555.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 1.35. The company has a market capitalization of $3.76 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.05, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $509.74 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $449.32.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.35 by $0.30. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.15% and a return on equity of 32.44%. The firm had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $73.79 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.95 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. Analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 39,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,624,012.52. This represents a 11.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Raymond James Financial boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $490.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $530.00 to $582.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $612.54.

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.