Microsoft Corporation $MSFT is Bard Financial Services Inc.'s 2nd Largest Position

Key Points

• Bard Financial Services Inc. reduced its stake in Microsoft Corporation by 1.3%, selling 2,025 shares, and now holds 152,259 shares valued at approximately $75.735 million.
• Microsoft reported strong quarterly earnings with an EPS of $3.65, exceeding estimates and demonstrating a 36.15% net margin and 18.1% year-over-year revenue growth.
• The company announced an increased quarterly dividend of $0.91, reflecting a positive change from the previous dividend of $0.83, with a payout ratio of 24.34%.

Bard Financial Services Inc. reduced its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 152,259 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 2,025 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 9.0% of Bard Financial Services Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Bard Financial Services Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $75,735,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Newton One Investments LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 66.7% during the first 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 in the last quarter. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $44,000. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 50.0% during the 1st quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant's stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 155.7% in the 1st quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 156 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on MSFT. Wedbush increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $580.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $525.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $612.54.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 39,111 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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 available through this link. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $504.78, for a total value of $75,315,699.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 790,852 shares of the company's stock, valued at $399,206,272.56. The trade was a 15.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ MSFT traded up $9.48 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $517.93. The stock had a trading volume of 52,313,925 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,095,838. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $511.71 and a 200 day moving average of $458.31. The stock has a market cap of $3.85 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.04. 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 quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 1.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 analyst estimates of $73.79 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.95 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be given a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. This is an increase from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Microsoft's dividend 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.