Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Purchases 11,854 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Microsoft Corporation by 1.3%, now owning 948,407 shares worth approximately $471.7 million, making it the fund's largest position.
• Microsoft recently reported earnings of $3.65 per share, surpassing analysts' expectations, with quarterly revenue increasing by 18.1% year-over-year to $76.44 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend increase from $0.83 to $0.91, with the next payment scheduled for December 11th, representing an annualized yield of 0.7%.

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 948,407 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 11,854 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 8.3% of Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $471,747,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,343,058,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $18,733,827,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 40,290.4% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 46,695,303 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $17,528,950,000 after purchasing an additional 46,579,693 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant's stock worth $35,316,535,000 after buying an additional 11,600,470 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 684,071,705 shares of the software giant's stock worth $288,336,224,000 after buying an additional 10,431,988 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on MSFT shares. UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $650.00 target price (up from $600.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Melius Research raised their price objective on Microsoft from $595.00 to $625.00 in a research note on Thursday. Wall Street Zen lowered Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, September 20th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $515.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $540.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note 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 assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $614.45.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $511.46 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 1.35. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $555.45. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $512.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $462.06. The company has a market capitalization of $3.80 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.50, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.04.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its 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. The company had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $73.79 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.44% and a net margin of 36.15%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. 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 expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be paid a $0.91 dividend. This is an increase from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. Microsoft's payout ratio is currently 24.34%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the 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 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 790,852 shares in the company, valued at $399,206,272.56. This trade represents a 15.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Company 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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