McAlister Sweet & Associates Inc. Increases Stake in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• McAlister Sweet & Associates Inc. increased its stake in Microsoft by 28.3%, acquiring an additional 3,404 shares, making the software giant its 3rd largest position with holdings valued at $7.68 million.
• Several institutions, including WFA Asset Management Corp and Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC, have also recently raised their stakes in Microsoft, reflecting a strong interest from hedge funds.
• Microsoft declared a quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share, up from the previous $0.83, with the dividend record date set for November 20th.

McAlister Sweet & Associates Inc. boosted its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 28.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 15,437 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 3,404 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 7.8% of McAlister Sweet & Associates Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. McAlister Sweet & Associates Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $7,679,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norway Savings Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter. Norway Savings Bank now owns 18,784 shares of the software giant's stock worth $9,343,000 after purchasing an additional 754 shares in the last quarter. Boston Standard Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 11.9% in the 2nd quarter. Boston Standard Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,535 shares of the software giant's stock worth $763,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the period. Dentgroup LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter valued at about $213,000. HBW Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 8.6% during the 2nd quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC now owns 24,647 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $12,260,000 after purchasing an additional 1,949 shares during the period. Finally, Central Pacific Bank Trust Division lifted its stake in Microsoft by 4.0% in the second quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 52,353 shares of the software giant's stock worth $26,041,000 after acquiring an additional 2,032 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 39,111 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,624,012.52. This trade represents a 11.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 790,852 shares of the company's stock, valued at $399,206,272.56. This represents a 15.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on MSFT. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $540.00 to $637.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Microsoft from $530.00 to $582.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $580.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a 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 assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $612.54.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT traded down $1.57 on Thursday, reaching $508.45. 18,867,026 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 19,072,316. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $555.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.78 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.28, a P/E/G 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. The company's 50 day moving average is $511.28 and its 200-day moving average is $456.20.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $73.79 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.95 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate 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. Investors of record on Thursday, November 20th will be given 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is presently 24.34%.

About Microsoft

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.