44 Wealth Management LLC Increases Stake in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

44 Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 5.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 38,717 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 1,892 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 5.5% of 44 Wealth Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. 44 Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $14,534,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $44,343,058,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 40,290.4% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 46,695,303 shares of the software giant's stock worth $17,528,950,000 after purchasing an additional 46,579,693 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 34,643.3% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 16,837,278 shares of the software giant's stock worth $7,096,913,000 after purchasing an additional 16,788,816 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant's stock worth $35,316,535,000 after purchasing an additional 11,600,470 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 684,071,705 shares of the software giant's stock worth $288,336,224,000 after purchasing an additional 10,431,988 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on MSFT shares. TD Cowen increased their target price on Microsoft from $580.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Microsoft from $530.00 to $582.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Microsoft from $515.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Bank of America raised their price target on Microsoft from $585.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One research 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 has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $612.54.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $527.32, for a total value of $2,557,502.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 39,111 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,624,012.52. The trade was a 11.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In the last quarter, insiders sold 8,850 shares of company stock valued at $4,406,512. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.4%

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $509.77 on Wednesday. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $555.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.79 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.06. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $504.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $442.37.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.35 by $0.30. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.44% and a net margin of 36.15%.The business had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $73.79 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.95 EPS. Microsoft's revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's payout ratio is 24.34%.

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.

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