Albion Financial Group UT Raises Stock Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Albion Financial Group UT boosted its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 139,107 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 726 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 4.5% of Albion Financial Group UT's holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Albion Financial Group UT's holdings in Microsoft were worth $69,193,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Newton One Investments LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 66.7% during the 1st 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 period. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Bulwark Capital Corp acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. Westend Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 386.7% during the 2nd 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 period. Finally, LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at about $44,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the business'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 transaction of $2,557,502.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 39,111 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,624,012.52. The trade was a 11.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 790,852 shares in the company, valued at $399,206,272.56. The trade was a 15.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on MSFT shares. DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Wedbush lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Loop Capital lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $618.47.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $513.43 on Thursday. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $512.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $473.79. The company has a market cap of $3.82 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.03. 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 Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released 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. The business had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $73.79 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.15% and a return on equity of 32.44%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.95 earnings per share. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 20th will be given a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. This is a boost from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Microsoft's payout ratio is presently 24.34%.

Microsoft 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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