Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. Buys 281,456 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 5,456.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 286,614 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 281,456 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 1.4% of Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $107,591,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Newton One Investments LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 66.7% during the first quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at about $44,000. IFS Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 50.0% during the first quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at about $62,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $509.77 on Wednesday. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year 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. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $504.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $442.37. The company has a market cap of $3.79 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.06.

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. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.44% and a net margin of 36.15%.The business had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $73.79 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.95 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. Research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is 24.34%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders sold 8,850 shares of company stock worth $4,406,512 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Microsoft from $580.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $650.00 price objective (up previously from $600.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Loop Capital upped their price objective on Microsoft from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, TD Securities upped their price objective on Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MSFT? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.