Ewa LLC Increases Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Ewa LLC increased its stake in Microsoft Corporation by 49.9% during the 2nd quarter, owning 15,415 shares valued at approximately $7.67 million, which makes Microsoft the 8th largest position in their investment portfolio.
• CEO Satya Nadella recently sold 149,205 shares at around $504.78, representing a 15.87% decrease in his ownership, while Microsoft plans to pay a quarterly dividend of $0.91 on December 11th.
• Several analysts have raised their price targets for Microsoft, with Cantor Fitzgerald increasing its target from $581 to $639, reflecting a generally positive outlook with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy.

Ewa LLC grew its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 49.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 15,415 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 5,132 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 2.4% of Ewa LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Ewa LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $7,668,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. PMV Capital Advisers LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 5.9% during the 2nd quarter. PMV Capital Advisers LLC now owns 359 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $178,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Seek First Inc. boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Seek First Inc. now owns 1,358 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $675,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Level Financial Advisors boosted its position in Microsoft by 0.8% in the second quarter. Level Financial Advisors now owns 2,680 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,333,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Guided Capital Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 0.4% in the second quarter. Guided Capital Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,405 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,688,000 after buying an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Great Oak Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 0.9% in the second quarter. Great Oak Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,298 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,157,000 after buying an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $504.78, for a total value of $75,315,699.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 790,852 shares in the company, valued at $399,206,272.56. This represents a 15.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 39,111 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,624,012.52. This trade represents a 11.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $581.00 to $639.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Arete boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $700.00 to $710.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $637.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $618.97.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $517.66 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.85 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.95, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.03. 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 has a 50 day moving average price of $511.49 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $478.38.

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

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. This is a boost from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. Microsoft's dividend 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.

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