Balanced Wealth Group LLC Makes New Investment in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

Error: One or more errors occurred.

Balanced Wealth Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 1,855 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $692,000. Microsoft comprises 0.2% of Balanced Wealth Group LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Auto Owners Insurance Co increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 56,160.8% during the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 60,116,384 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $29,073,486,000 after acquiring an additional 60,009,531 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 234.5% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 17,822,280 shares of the software giant's stock worth $8,619,211,000 after purchasing an additional 12,493,786 shares in the last quarter. Amundi grew its position in Microsoft by 30.8% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 41,675,076 shares of the software giant's stock worth $15,426,862,000 after purchasing an additional 9,814,598 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 64.3% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 24,264,779 shares of the software giant's stock worth $8,982,083,000 after buying an additional 9,493,778 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diamant Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 38,442.1% in the first quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,810,388 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,521,001,000 after buying an additional 6,792,718 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 86,525 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 486,763 shares in the company, valued at approximately $244,092,173.98. This represents a 15.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Amy Hood sold 41,674 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $498.27, for a total transaction of $20,764,903.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 533,624 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $265,888,830.48. This represents a 7.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 143,009 shares of company stock worth $71,420,699. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $535.07 on Friday. The business's 50-day moving average is $501.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $434.73. The company has a market capitalization of $3.97 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.10. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $349.20 and a fifty-two week high of $553.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.23.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.50. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.98% and a net margin of 40.31%. The business had revenue of $90.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $87.62 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.65 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 19th will be issued a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 19th. This is a boost from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is presently 20.27%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Microsoft from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $530.00 to $575.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 22nd. DA Davidson restated a "buy" rating and issued a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on Microsoft in a research note on Monday, October 5th. They set an "outperform" rating on the stock. KeyCorp reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, September 3rd. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Microsoft from $515.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 22nd. Forty-two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $578.73.

Microsoft News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft introduced Microsoft-Decision-1, an AI model it says makes decisions substantially faster than GPT-6 Sol. The launch reinforces Microsoft’s competitive position in enterprise AI and could support demand for Azure and Copilot services. Microsoft launches Microsoft-Decision-1
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst and investor commentary remains bullish on Microsoft’s AI stack, Azure acceleration, Copilot adoption and a large reported backlog. Wells Fargo reportedly raised its price target to $725, while Morgan Stanley reaffirmed a Buy rating with a $600 target. Morgan Stanley rating
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is attempting to revive Windows and expand on-device AI with new Nvidia-powered Surface hardware, including the premium Surface Laptop Ultra. Local AI processing could strengthen the Windows ecosystem and stimulate higher-value PC sales. Surface Laptop Ultra
• Positive Sentiment: The company is nearing a $4 trillion market capitalization after a strong earnings beat, with revenue and earnings growth continuing to support the recent rally. The next major test is Microsoft’s expected October 28 earnings report. Microsoft approaches $4 trillion valuation
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft’s new Xbox division, focused on film, television, events and theme parks, could expand the reach of its gaming franchises, although the strategy is unlikely to materially affect near-term financial results. Microsoft forms new Xbox unit
• Negative Sentiment: The U.S. suspension of Microsoft’s PERM green-card sponsorship program creates hiring and retention uncertainty, particularly for specialized AI and engineering workers. Investors are weighing potential compliance costs and the risk of an “AI brain drain.” U.S. suspends Microsoft green-card program
• Negative Sentiment: Italy launched an EU-backed antitrust investigation into Microsoft-owned game companies over virtual currencies, adding regulatory risk to the gaming business. Italy gaming investigation

Microsoft Company Profile

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company that develops software, cloud services, devices, gaming products and business solutions. Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, the company is best known for the Windows operating system and Microsoft Office productivity software. Microsoft is headquartered in Redmond, Washington, and serves consumers, businesses, governments and educational institutions worldwide.

Microsoft's productivity and business offerings include Microsoft 365 applications such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook, along with collaboration tools including Teams.

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.