Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 12.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 461,553 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 52,490 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 3.1% of Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $173,263,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Newton One Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 66.7% in the first quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth about $44,000. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth about $62,000. Finally, 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 purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $527.32, for a total transaction of $2,557,502.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 39,111 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,624,012.52. This represents a 11.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 8,850 shares of company stock worth $4,406,512. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $507.23 on Friday. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $506.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $444.32. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $555.45. The company has a market cap of $3.77 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.35.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business 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 $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.34%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on MSFT shares. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on Microsoft from $540.00 to $637.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Truist Financial upped their target price on Microsoft from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Microsoft from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a "buy" 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's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $612.54.

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.

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