Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Holdings Boosted by HWG Holdings LP

Key Points

• HWG Holdings LP increased its holdings in Microsoft by 26.6% during the second quarter, now owning 46,439 shares valued at approximately $23.1 million.
• Microsoft recently announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.91 per share, which reflects a positive change from its previous dividend of $0.83.
• Analysts have set a consensus price target of $612.54 for Microsoft stock, with many rating it as a Moderate Buy.

HWG Holdings LP lifted its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 26.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 46,439 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 9,748 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 6.8% of HWG Holdings LP's holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. HWG Holdings LP's holdings in Microsoft were worth $23,099,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. WFA Asset Management Corp increased its holdings in Microsoft by 27.0% in the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $427,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the second quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $5,658,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 410.4% in the 3rd quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 2,659 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,144,000 after buying an additional 2,138 shares during the period. Wealth Group Ltd. lifted its stake in Microsoft by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. now owns 2,374 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,000,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 23,097 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $9,735,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $507.03 on Friday. 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 Corporation has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $555.45. The stock has a market cap of $3.77 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.04. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $512.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $461.15.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.35 by $0.30. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.44% and a net margin of 36.15%.The company 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 company posted $2.95 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. This is a positive change from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Microsoft's payout ratio is presently 24.34%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the company's 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 39,111 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,624,012.52. This represents a 11.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 790,852 shares in the company, valued at $399,206,272.56. The trade was a 15.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $650.00 price target (up from $600.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Loop Capital upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Microsoft from $515.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $625.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, August 29th. One investment 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $612.54.

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.

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