Clarus Wealth Advisors Has $3.10 Million Stock Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Clarus Wealth Advisors increased its Microsoft position by 17.5% in the second quarter to 8,087 shares valued at approximately $3.1 million. Institutional investors collectively own 71.13% of Microsoft’s stock.
• Microsoft reported quarterly EPS of $4.74 and revenue of $90.01 billion, exceeding analyst estimates, while revenue rose 17.7% year over year. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating with an average price target of $560.27.
• Microsoft declared a quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share, equivalent to an annualized $3.64 and a 0.7% yield; meanwhile, insiders sold 37,310 shares worth $17.3 million over the past 90 days.

Clarus Wealth Advisors grew its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 17.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,087 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 1,202 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 1.2% of Clarus Wealth Advisors' holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Clarus Wealth Advisors' holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,100,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 51.3% during the 2nd quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Shepherd Kaplan Krochuk LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 4.9% in the third quarter. Shepherd Kaplan Krochuk LLC now owns 431 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $223,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Fischer Investment Strategies LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Fischer Investment Strategies LLC now owns 697 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $337,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the period. Pollock Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 0.8% in the third quarter. Pollock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,805 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,453,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Better Money Decisions LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 0.6% during the second quarter. Better Money Decisions LLC now owns 3,498 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,740,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on MSFT. Mizuho decreased their price objective on Microsoft from $515.00 to $490.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. DZ Bank reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. TD Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $540.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Dbs Bank dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $678.00 to $573.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Forty-two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $560.27.

Microsoft Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of MSFT opened at $505.06 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.23. The company has a market cap of $3.75 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.12, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.11. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $428.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $411.73. Microsoft Corporation has a 52-week low of $349.20 and a 52-week high of $553.72.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $90.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $87.62 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.65 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 20.27%.

More Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft announced a long-term partnership with Saudi Arabia’s HUMAIN to bring Arabic-language ALLAM AI models to Microsoft Foundry and Microsoft 365 Copilot. The agreement strengthens Microsoft’s enterprise-AI reach in the Middle East and could support additional Azure and Copilot adoption. Microsoft Expands Middle East AI Footprint Through Long-Term HUMAIN Deal
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft and ChronoScale reportedly plan a 50-megawatt AI-compute deployment using NVIDIA GB300 systems. The project signals continued demand for Microsoft’s cloud and AI infrastructure, although it also implies substantial near-term capital spending. ChronoScale and Microsoft Plan 50 MW AI Compute Deployment
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s Superintelligence team is pursuing internally developed frontier models and greater AI self-sufficiency. Building proprietary models could reduce dependence on outside providers and improve long-term economics if execution is successful. Microsoft AI Self-Sufficiency Strategy
• Positive Sentiment: Investor Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square reportedly made Microsoft its largest AI-related holding after reducing Alphabet exposure, adding an influential vote of confidence in Microsoft’s cloud, AI and backlog outlook. Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square Microsoft Investment

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $487.89, for a total transaction of $4,878,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 100,447 shares of the company's stock, valued at $49,007,086.83. This represents a 9.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $496.48, for a total transaction of $2,388,068.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 42,677 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $21,188,276.96. This represents a 10.13% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 37,310 shares of company stock valued at $17,256,219 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

About Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, Microsoft develops, licenses and supports a broad range of software products, services and devices for consumers, enterprises and governments worldwide. Its operations span personal computing, productivity software, cloud infrastructure, enterprise applications, developer tools and gaming.

Microsoft's product portfolio includes the Windows operating system and the Microsoft 365 suite of productivity and collaboration tools (Office apps, Outlook, Teams).

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