John W. Brooker & Co. CPAs Cuts Stock Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

John W. Brooker & Co. CPAs lowered its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 37.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 800 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 469 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 0.9% of John W. Brooker & Co. CPAs’ portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position. John W. Brooker & Co. CPAs’ holdings in Microsoft were worth $401,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Newton One Investments LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 66.7% in the first quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Bulwark Capital Corp purchased a new position in Microsoft in the second quarter valued at $32,000. Westend Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 386.7% in the second quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on Microsoft from $540.00 to $637.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. TD Cowen increased their target price on Microsoft from $580.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their target price on Microsoft from $581.00 to $639.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Microsoft from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $618.47.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the 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 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $527.32, for a total transaction of $2,557,502.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 39,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,624,012.52. This trade represents a 11.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $510.96 on Monday. 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 $3.80 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a fifty day moving average of $513.12 and a two-hundred day moving average of $472.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 business 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% compared to the same quarter last year. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend 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 payout ratio is currently 24.34%.

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.