Microsoft Corporation $MSFT is Coleford Investment Management Ltd.'s 2nd Largest Position

Key Points

• Coleford Investment Management Ltd. reduced its stake in Microsoft Corporation by 1.8%, now owning 73,571 shares, which account for 7.7% of its holdings.
• Microsoft recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.83 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend of $3.32 and a yield of 0.7%.
• Analysts have raised price targets for Microsoft, with Evercore ISI increasing its target from $515 to $545, reflecting strong confidence in the company's performance.

Coleford Investment Management Ltd. reduced its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 73,571 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 1,312 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 7.7% of Coleford Investment Management Ltd.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Coleford Investment Management Ltd.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $27,618,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 1.4% in 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 period. Strategic Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Services Inc. now owns 17,426 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $7,345,000 after buying an additional 1,268 shares during the period. Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 147.9% during the fourth quarter. Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. now owns 1,748 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $737,000 after buying an additional 1,043 shares during the period. Intellus Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $16,075,000. Finally, Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 54,910 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $23,144,000 after buying an additional 2,014 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. DA Davidson boosted their target price on Microsoft from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Wall Street Zen raised Microsoft from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Raymond James Financial boosted their target price on Microsoft from $490.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $650.00 price target (up from $600.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Loop Capital lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $612.54.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $527.32, for a total transaction of $2,557,502.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 39,111 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,624,012.52. This trade represents a 11.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT traded up $0.79 on Wednesday, hitting $505.91. The stock had a trading volume of 2,262,466 shares, compared to its average volume of 22,154,641. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $509.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $448.93. The company has a quick ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Microsoft Corporation has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $555.45. The stock has a market cap of $3.76 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.04.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted 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 firm had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $73.79 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.95 earnings per share. The business'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 Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.34%.

Microsoft Company 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.