Good Steward Wealth Advisors LLC Has $1.85 Million Stock Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Good Steward Wealth Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Microsoft Corporation by 18.3%, holding 3,720 shares worth $1.85 million as of the second quarter, making Microsoft the firm's 20th largest position.
• Microsoft recently announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.91 per share, up from $0.83, with a payout ratio of 24.34% and an annualized yield of 0.7%.
• Several analysts have raised their price targets for Microsoft shares, with UBS Group setting a new target of $650, indicating a strong bullish sentiment from various investment firms.

Good Steward Wealth Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 18.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,720 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 836 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 1.5% of Good Steward Wealth Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Good Steward Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,850,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth approximately $44,343,058,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the first quarter worth approximately $18,733,827,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 40,290.4% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 46,695,303 shares of the software giant's stock worth $17,528,950,000 after purchasing an additional 46,579,693 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant's stock worth $35,316,535,000 after purchasing an additional 11,600,470 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 684,071,705 shares of the software giant's stock worth $288,336,224,000 after purchasing an additional 10,431,988 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 39,111 shares in the company, valued at $20,624,012.52. The trade was a 11.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $504.78, for a total transaction 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. This represents a 15.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT stock traded up $9.48 on Friday, reaching $517.93. 52,313,925 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 19,095,838. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $555.45. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $511.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $457.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.85 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.97, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.04. 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 announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $73.79 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.95 earnings per share. Microsoft's revenue was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. 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 yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is presently 24.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $605.00 to $613.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $580.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $585.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald lifted 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $612.54.

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.