Microsoft Corporation $MSFT is Congress Asset Management Co.'s 2nd Largest Position

Key Points

• Congress Asset Management Co. increased its stake in Microsoft Corporation by 0.4%, making it the firm's 2nd largest position, valued at approximately $329 million.
• Microsoft reported an EPS of $3.65 for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations of $3.35, with quarterly revenue rising 18.1% year-over-year to $76.44 billion.
• The company has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.91, an increase from the previous dividend of $0.83, reflecting a strong financial outlook and a dividend payout ratio of 24.34%.

Congress Asset Management Co. grew its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 662,102 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 2,651 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 2.3% of Congress Asset Management Co.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Congress Asset Management Co.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $329,336,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MSFT. Newton One Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 66.7% in the 1st quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Bulwark Capital Corp purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Westend Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 386.7% in the 2nd quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Finally, LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $510.96 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $513.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $471.16. The stock has a market cap of $3.80 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.46, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.03. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.35 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $73.79 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.44% and a net margin of 36.15%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.95 earnings per share. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. On average, analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be given a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. This is a positive change from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.34%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, 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 value of $75,315,699.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 790,852 shares in the company, valued at $399,206,272.56. This represents a 15.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $2,557,502.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Raymond James Financial raised their target price on Microsoft from $490.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $515.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $605.00 to $613.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $640.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, Westpark Capital reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $618.47.

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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