Auxano Advisors LLC Purchases 1,946 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Auxano Advisors LLC increased its stake in Microsoft Corporation by 1.7%, owning a total of 118,285 shares valued at approximately $44.4 million, making Microsoft its largest holding.
• Multiple hedge funds have significantly increased their positions in Microsoft, with notable increases from Norges Bank and GAMMA Investing LLC, demonstrating strong institutional interest.
• Microsoft recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.83 per share, scheduled for payment on September 11th, with an annualized yield of 0.7% based on current stock prices.

Auxano Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 118,285 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 1,946 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 11.8% of Auxano Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Auxano Advisors LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $44,403,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 6,650 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,496,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 7.8% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Services Inc. now owns 17,426 shares of the software giant's stock worth $7,345,000 after purchasing an additional 1,268 shares during the last quarter. Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 147.9% during the 4th quarter. Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. now owns 1,748 shares of the software giant's stock worth $737,000 after purchasing an additional 1,043 shares during the last quarter. Intellus Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth $16,075,000. Finally, Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 54,910 shares of the software giant's stock worth $23,144,000 after purchasing an additional 2,014 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $20,624,012.52. The trade was a 11.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT traded up $0.23 on Wednesday, reaching $505.35. The company's stock had a trading volume of 16,201,675 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,029,184. The stock's 50-day moving average is $509.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $449.32. Microsoft Corporation has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-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 $3.76 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.05, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.04.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 analysts' expectations of $73.79 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.95 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $525.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Microsoft from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. KeyCorp raised shares of Microsoft from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $630.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $581.00 to $639.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $612.54.

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.