4,445 Shares in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Purchased by Quantum Financial Partners LLC

Quantum Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 4,445 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $1,658,000. Microsoft makes up about 0.8% of Quantum Financial Partners LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 8.1% in the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 346,475 shares of the software giant's stock worth $129,230,000 after acquiring an additional 25,814 shares during the last quarter. Hager Investment Management Services LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 12.9% in the second quarter. Hager Investment Management Services LLC now owns 17,677 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $6,594,000 after purchasing an additional 2,025 shares during the period. B.O.S.S. Retirement Advisors LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 19.5% during the second quarter. B.O.S.S. Retirement Advisors LLC now owns 13,930 shares of the software giant's stock worth $5,196,000 after purchasing an additional 2,269 shares during the last quarter. Arkansas Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Microsoft by 18.3% during the second quarter. Arkansas Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,022 shares of the software giant's stock worth $754,000 after purchasing an additional 313 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gibraltar Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Microsoft by 22.4% during the second quarter. Gibraltar Capital Management Inc. now owns 49,324 shares of the software giant's stock worth $18,399,000 after purchasing an additional 9,011 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Stock Down 1.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $497.12 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Microsoft Corporation has a 52-week low of $349.20 and a 52-week high of $553.72. The company has a 50 day moving average of $460.39 and a two-hundred day moving average of $420.90. The company has a market capitalization of $3.69 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.11.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.50. The business had revenue of $90.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $87.62 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 31.98%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.65 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. This is a positive change from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 19th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Microsoft's payout ratio is presently 20.27%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $496.48, for a total transaction of $2,388,068.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 42,677 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $21,188,276.96. The trade was a 10.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 86,525 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $501.46, for a total value of $43,388,826.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 486,763 shares in the company, valued at approximately $244,092,173.98. This trade represents a 15.09% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 143,009 shares of company stock worth $71,420,699. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Key Headlines Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Dividend increased 8%: Microsoft’s board raised the quarterly dividend by $0.07 to $0.98 per share, signaling confidence in cash generation and improving shareholder returns. Microsoft announces quarterly dividend increase
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support remains strong: Citizens JMP reaffirmed a “Market Outperform” rating and a $550 price target, implying additional upside from the reported $497.12 reference price. Other recent commentary highlights Azure growth, Copilot adoption and Microsoft’s enterprise software strength.
• Positive Sentiment: Greater Azure transparency could help the stock: Microsoft plans to report Azure revenue, rather than only its growth rate, in quarterly results. The move could make the cloud business easier to value and allow investors to better assess whether AI infrastructure spending is translating into revenue. Microsoft Azure revenue reporting
• Positive Sentiment: Upcoming product catalyst: Microsoft scheduled a Windows and Surface event for October 7, where investors expect updates on next-generation hardware and on-device AI capabilities. Microsoft Windows and Surface event
• Neutral Sentiment: AI safety positioning: Microsoft’s draft “Humanist AI” code of conduct emphasizes human control, outside testing and limits on model behavior. The framework may improve trust and reduce regulatory risk, although a slower development approach could raise questions about competitiveness and commercialization.
• Negative Sentiment: Executive selling adds a modest overhang: EVP Amy Hood sold 41,674 shares worth approximately $20.8 million under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. Because the sale was scheduled in advance, it is not necessarily a signal about Microsoft’s outlook, but it adds to recent insider-selling activity.
• Negative Sentiment: AI execution and security concerns remain: Investors continue to weigh Microsoft’s heavy data-center investment against the time required to generate returns, while coverage of a recent large security patch highlights ongoing cybersecurity risks.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MSFT. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $586.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, July 27th. Truist Financial restated a "buy" rating and set a $575.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Tigress Financial increased their target price on Microsoft from $680.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Benchmark reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Microsoft from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Forty-two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $564.27.

Microsoft Company Profile

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company that develops software, cloud services, devices and digital solutions for consumers, businesses and public-sector organizations. Its products and services include the Windows operating system, Microsoft 365 productivity applications, Teams collaboration software, Dynamics business applications and Azure cloud computing services.

The company also operates LinkedIn, GitHub and Xbox, which includes gaming consoles, video games and related online services.

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