Equita Financial Network Inc. Has $1.19 Million Stock Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Equita Financial Network Inc. increased its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 39.9% during the 1st quarter, owning 3,169 shares valued at approximately $1,190,000 following the purchase of 904 additional shares.
• Microsoft reported $3.65 EPS for the quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations of $3.35, with a revenue of $76.44 billion, a 18.1% increase year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.83 per share with a dividend yield of 0.6%, set to be paid on September 11th, impacting stockholders of record from August 21st.

Equita Financial Network Inc. boosted its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 39.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,169 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 904 shares during the period. Equita Financial Network Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,190,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $44,343,058,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 40,290.4% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 46,695,303 shares of the software giant's stock worth $17,528,950,000 after acquiring an additional 46,579,693 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 34,643.3% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 16,837,278 shares of the software giant's stock worth $7,096,913,000 after acquiring an additional 16,788,816 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant's stock worth $35,316,535,000 after acquiring an additional 11,600,470 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 684,071,705 shares of the software giant's stock worth $288,336,224,000 after acquiring an additional 10,431,988 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT traded down $7.4250 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $509.6750. 12,654,787 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 22,237,453. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $555.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 1.35. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $503.49 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $441.90. The company has a market cap of $3.79 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.06.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.35 by $0.30. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.15% and a return on equity of 32.44%. The company had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $73.79 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.95 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 is currently 24.34%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $585.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Wedbush increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Raymond James Financial increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $490.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $612.54.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total transaction of $9,756,055.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 134,888 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $61,208,127.76. This represents a 13.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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 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 represents a 11.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 30,350 shares of company stock valued at $14,162,567 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

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.