Lederer & Associates Investment Counsel CA Has $12.23 Million Stock Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Lederer & Associates Investment Counsel CA reduced its stake in Microsoft Corporation by 5.0%, owning 24,596 shares valued at approximately $12.23 million, making it the largest position in their portfolio.
• Microsoft's stock price rose 0.3% to open at $517.35, with a market cap of $3.85 trillion, while analysts maintain a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with a target price average of $617.63.
• The company recently announced an increase in its quarterly dividend to $0.91, which will be paid on December 11th, reflecting an annualized yield of 0.7%.

Lederer & Associates Investment Counsel CA lessened its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 5.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 24,596 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 1,305 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 8.1% of Lederer & Associates Investment Counsel CA's portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Lederer & Associates Investment Counsel CA's holdings in Microsoft were worth $12,234,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. CJM Wealth Advisers Ltd. grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. CJM Wealth Advisers Ltd. now owns 4,987 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,480,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Chris Bulman Inc grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 8.6% in the 2nd quarter. Chris Bulman Inc now owns 2,928 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,456,000 after buying an additional 233 shares during the last quarter. IronOak Wealth LLC. bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,323,000. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 16.8% in the 2nd quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. now owns 11,526 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $5,733,000 after buying an additional 1,660 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Enhancement Group LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Financial Enhancement Group LLC now owns 2,949 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,484,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.3%

MSFT stock opened at $517.35 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.85 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.03. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $555.45. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $512.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $466.63. 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 (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.35 by $0.30. The firm 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 company's quarterly revenue was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.95 earnings per share. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. This is a boost from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.34%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America upped their price target on Microsoft from $585.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Westpark Capital restated a "hold" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. UBS Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $650.00 target price (up previously from $600.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Wedbush upped their target price on Microsoft from $600.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on Microsoft from $515.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $617.63.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 790,852 shares of the company's stock, valued at $399,206,272.56. This represents a 15.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

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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