CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp Acquires 2,818 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp increased its stake in Microsoft Corporation by 2.8% within the second quarter, now holding 104,880 shares worth around $52.17 million.
• Microsoft recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share, up from the previous $0.83, reflecting a dividend yield of 0.7%, to be paid on December 11th.
• The company reported a strong quarterly performance with $3.65 earnings per share, surpassing expectations and showing revenue growth of 18.1% year-over-year.

CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp boosted its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 2.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 104,880 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 2,818 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 0.6% of CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp's holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp's holdings in Microsoft were worth $52,168,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 6,650 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,496,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Real Talk Capital LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Real Talk Capital LLC now owns 2,290 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $860,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG increased its position in Microsoft by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 922,524 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $457,119,000 after purchasing an additional 33,382 shares during the period. Modern Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 39.3% during the 1st quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC now owns 144,852 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $54,376,000 after purchasing an additional 40,860 shares during the period. Finally, Well Done LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 8.9% during the 2nd quarter. Well Done LLC now owns 9,911 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $4,930,000 after purchasing an additional 814 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.2%

Microsoft stock opened at $517.66 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $511.49 and a 200 day moving average of $478.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.85 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.03. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month high of $555.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.35 by $0.30. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.15% and a return on equity of 32.44%. The firm had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $73.79 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.95 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $625.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, August 29th. DA Davidson upped 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. Arete upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $700.00 to $710.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $625.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $618.97.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $504.78, for a total value of $75,315,699.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 790,852 shares in the company, valued at $399,206,272.56. This trade represents a 15.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 39,111 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,624,012.52. This represents a 11.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.

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