Goldstone Financial Group LLC Acquires 722 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Goldstone Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 7.9%, now owning 9,916 shares worth approximately $4.95 million as of the end of Q2.
• Multiple analysts have raised their price targets for Microsoft, with UBS setting a target at $650.00, indicating strong optimism about the stock's future performance.
• Microsoft announced a quarterly dividend of $0.91, up from the previous $0.83, reflecting a positive shift in its financial returns.

Goldstone Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 7.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 9,916 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 722 shares during the quarter. Goldstone Financial Group LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $4,947,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Apella Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 79,821 shares of the software giant's stock worth $39,729,000 after purchasing an additional 1,068 shares during the last quarter. Holcombe Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 6.8% in the 2nd quarter. Holcombe Financial Inc. now owns 656 shares of the software giant's stock worth $326,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Boltwood Capital Management lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 5.9% in the 2nd quarter. Boltwood Capital Management now owns 17,986 shares of the software giant's stock worth $8,946,000 after purchasing an additional 996 shares during the last quarter. Heartwood Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 14.1% in the 2nd quarter. Heartwood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,959 shares of the software giant's stock worth $4,456,000 after purchasing an additional 1,107 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 296,859 shares of the software giant's stock worth $147,660,000 after purchasing an additional 11,341 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT traded down $4.54 on Tuesday, reaching $509.91. 7,260,959 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 22,143,365. The firm has a market cap of $3.79 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.04. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $511.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $459.59. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $555.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share (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 analysts' expectations of $73.79 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.44% and a net margin of 36.15%.The business's revenue was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.95 earnings per share. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. This is a boost 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%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.34%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the subject of several analyst reports. KeyCorp upgraded Microsoft from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $630.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Microsoft from $530.00 to $582.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $650.00 price target (up from $600.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $650.00 price target (up from $600.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research 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 given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $612.54.

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 transaction of $2,557,502.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 39,111 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,624,012.52. This represents a 11.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 stock was sold at an average price of $504.78, for a total value of $75,315,699.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 790,852 shares in the company, valued at $399,206,272.56. The trade was a 15.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.