Exchange Capital Management Inc. Grows Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Exchange Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 0.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 72,539 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 640 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 4.4% of Exchange Capital Management Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Exchange Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $27,231,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Newton One Investments LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 66.7% during the 1st 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. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at about $44,000. IFS Advisors LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 50.0% during the 1st quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at about $62,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $530.00 to $582.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target 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, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $612.54.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.6%

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $509.64 on Friday. The company's 50-day moving average price is $508.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $446.67. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock has a market cap of $3.79 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.36, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.06. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $73.79 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.95 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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