<div id="readability-page-1"><p>Freedom Investment Management Inc. lowered its position in shares of  Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 3.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities &amp; Exchange Commission. The fund owned 23,810 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 893 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about  0.9% of Freedom Investment Management Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Freedom Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $11,843,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.</p><ul><li>A Magnificent AI Bet? Stanley Druckenmiller’s Latest Tech Moves</li></ul><p>Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC increased its position in shares of  Microsoft by 564,387.1% during the second quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 90,549,369 shares of the software giant's stock worth $45,040,162,000 after buying an additional 90,533,328 shares during the period.  Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in  Microsoft during the first quarter valued at $18,733,827,000.  Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of  Microsoft by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant's stock worth $35,316,535,000 after buying an additional 11,600,470 shares in the last quarter.  Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in  Microsoft by 1.1% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 691,386,214 shares of the software giant's stock worth $259,539,471,000 after purchasing an additional 7,314,509 shares during the period.  Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of  Microsoft by 14.1% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 49,338,953 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $18,521,349,000 after buying an additional 6,101,005 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. </p><h2>Microsoft Stock Down 1.3%</h2><p>MSFT opened at $472.12 on Friday. The company's 50-day moving average price is $512.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $498.37. 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 Corporation has a twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $555.45. The stock has a market cap of $3.51 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.58, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.02. </p><ul><li>Anthropic Just Became AI’s Hottest Ticket—Backed by Microsoft and NVIDIA</li></ul><p>Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.65 by $0.48. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.71% and a return on equity of 33.47%. The company had revenue of $77.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $75.49 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.30 EPS. Microsoft's revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis.  Microsoft has set its Q2 2026 guidance at  EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that  Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year. </p><h2>Microsoft Increases Dividend</h2><p>The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 20th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. This is an increase from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Microsoft's payout ratio is 25.89%. </p><h2>Insider Transactions at Microsoft</h2><ul><li>4 High-Risk Growth Stocks Under $15 to Watch This Fall</li></ul><p>In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 38,500 shares of the company's 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 sale, the insider directly owned 461,597 shares of the company's stock, valued at $239,402,668.08. This represents a 7.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities &amp; Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $504.78, for a total transaction of $75,315,699.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 790,852 shares of the company's stock, valued at $399,206,272.56. This represents a 15.87% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own  0.03% of the company's stock. </p><h2>Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades</h2><p>A number of brokerages have commented on MSFT. UBS Group  restated a &#34;buy&#34; rating and set a $650.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group  reissued a &#34;buy&#34; rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, November 17th. Redburn Partners  set a $560.00 target price on Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus  set a $640.00 price objective on Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, DA Davidson  set a $650.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have given a Buy rating and four have assigned  a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company  has a consensus rating of &#34;Moderate Buy&#34; and an average target price of $634.33.</p><p><b>Get Our Latest Research Report on Microsoft</b></p><h2>Microsoft Profile</h2> (Free Report)<p>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.</p><h2>See Also</h2><ul><li>Five stocks we like better than Microsoft</li><li>About the Markup Calculator</li><li>A Magnificent AI Bet? Stanley Druckenmiller’s Latest Tech Moves</li><li>Best Aerospace Stocks Investing </li><li>12 Analysts Just Raised CrowdStrike Targets—Here’s What They See Coming</li><li>How to Invest in Small Cap Stocks </li><li>Palo Alto Networks Stock Just Pulled Back—Is This a Prime Buy Zone?</li></ul><p><strong>Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MSFT?</strong> Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report).</p><p><img src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://www.marketbeat.com/scripts/SECFilingChart.ashx/query-UHJlZml4PU5BU0RBUSZTeW1ib2w9TVNGVA?x-oss-process=image/auto-orient,1/interlace,1/resize,w_1440,h_1440/quality,q_95/format,jpg" width="650" height="350" original-src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://www.marketbeat.com/scripts/SECFilingChart.ashx/query-UHJlZml4PU5BU0RBUSZTeW1ib2w9TVNGVA"/></p><p><em>This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.</em></p><h2>Should You Invest $1,000 in Microsoft Right Now?</h2><p>Before you consider Microsoft, you'll want to hear this.</p><p>MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Microsoft wasn't on the list.</p><p>While Microsoft currently has a Moderate Buy rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.</p><p>View The Five Stocks Here</p>                  </div>

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<p>Freedom Investment Management Inc. reduced its stake in Microsoft by 3.6% in Q2, holding $11.84 million worth of shares. Other investors like Kingstone Capital and Northern Trust increased their positions. Microsoft's stock is 71.13% owned by institutions. The company reported strong earnings, increased its dividend, and saw insider stock sales by executives. Microsoft's stock price and financial metrics are also highlighted.</p>

- Freedom Investment Management Inc. reduced its Microsoft shares by 3.6%, holding 23,810 shares valued at $11,843,000.  
- Other institutional investors, such as Kingstone Capital Partners and Vanguard Group, significantly increased their stakes in Microsoft, with Kingstone's position growing by 564,387.1%.  
- Microsoft reported strong quarterly earnings, exceeding expectations, and announced a dividend increase, reflecting its robust financial performance and market confidence.

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Freedom Investment Management Inc. Has $11.84 Million Stock Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT