HBW Advisory Services LLC Has $12.26 Million Stake in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• HBW Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Microsoft Corporation by 8.6% in Q2, bringing its holdings to 24,647 shares valued at approximately $12.26 million.
• Several large investors, including Norges Bank and Vanguard Group, have significantly increased their positions in Microsoft, with institutional investors now holding 71.13% of the company's stock.
• Microsoft has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share, representing a dividend yield of 0.7% and an increase from the previous dividend of $0.83.

HBW Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 8.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 24,647 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 1,949 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 1.5% of HBW Advisory Services LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. HBW Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $12,260,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $44,343,058,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft during the first quarter worth $18,733,827,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in 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 acquiring an additional 46,579,693 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in 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 acquiring an additional 11,600,470 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in 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 acquiring an additional 10,431,988 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MSFT. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Raymond James Financial increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $490.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price objective 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. Citigroup increased 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. Finally, Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $625.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, August 29th. 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 company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $612.54.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 790,852 shares in the company, valued at $399,206,272.56. This trade represents a 15.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 39,111 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,624,012.52. This trade represents a 11.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.2%

MSFT opened at $510.02 on Thursday. The company's 50 day moving average is $511.28 and its 200-day moving average is $456.20. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $555.45. 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 company has a market cap of $3.79 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.39, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.04.

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

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. This is an increase from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is 24.34%.

Microsoft 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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