Microsoft Corporation $MSFT is Cerity Partners LLC's 3rd Largest Position

Cerity Partners LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 15.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,617,099 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 494,477 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 2.7% of Cerity Partners LLC's holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Cerity Partners LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,357,823,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Newton One Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 66.7% during the 1st quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth about $44,000. IFS Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 50.0% during the 1st quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant's stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth about $62,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the company's 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 owned 39,111 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,624,012.52. This represents a 11.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 8,850 shares of company stock valued at $4,406,512. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT opened at $506.74 on Thursday. 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 $507.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $446.00. The stock has a market cap of $3.77 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.06.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $73.79 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.95 EPS. Microsoft's revenue was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 presently 24.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Raymond James Financial lifted their price target on Microsoft from $490.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Mizuho lifted their price target on Microsoft from $540.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. TD Securities lifted their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One research 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average 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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