Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Holdings Increased by Drive Wealth Management LLC

Key Points

• Drive Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 4.4%, now holding 26,348 shares valued at approximately $9.89 million, making it the fund's 9th largest holding.
• Microsoft announced a quarterly dividend of $0.83 per share, yielding 0.7%, with a payout ratio currently at 24.34% for its shareholders.
• The company's stock has a market capitalization of $3.78 trillion and recently reported earnings per share (EPS) of $3.65, beating analysts' estimates by $0.30.

Drive Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 4.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 26,348 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 1,116 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 2.3% of Drive Wealth Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Drive Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $9,891,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth approximately $44,343,058,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 40,290.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 46,695,303 shares of the software giant's stock worth $17,528,950,000 after purchasing an additional 46,579,693 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Microsoft by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant's stock worth $35,316,535,000 after purchasing an additional 11,600,470 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Microsoft by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 684,071,705 shares of the software giant's stock worth $288,336,224,000 after purchasing an additional 10,431,988 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,035,987,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on MSFT. KeyCorp upgraded Microsoft from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $630.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Raymond James Financial boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $490.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $581.00 to $639.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $612.54.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the business'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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 790,852 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $399,206,272.56. The trade was a 15.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the business'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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 39,111 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,624,012.52. This represents a 11.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Microsoft Stock Down 2.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT traded down $12.97 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $495.00. 31,963,969 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 22,259,959. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $509.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $450.01. 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 Corporation has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month high of $555.45. The stock has a market cap of $3.68 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.29, a P/E/G 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 earnings per share 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 analysts' expectations of $73.79 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.95 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

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.