Microsoft Corporation $MSFT is Financial Counselors Inc.'s 2nd Largest Position

Financial Counselors Inc. grew its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 2.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 725,833 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 18,482 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 4.1% of Financial Counselors Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Financial Counselors Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $272,470,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Cooksen Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the first quarter worth about $86,000. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 1.3% in the first quarter. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC now owns 6,237 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,341,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership increased its position in Microsoft by 3.0% in the first quarter. YANKCOM Partnership now owns 14,024 shares of the software giant's stock worth $5,264,000 after buying an additional 404 shares in the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 5.0% during the first quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 124,650 shares of the software giant's stock worth $46,792,000 after purchasing an additional 5,911 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Apex Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 5.0% during the first quarter. Apex Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,723 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,148,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $507.23 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.77 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.19, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.06. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $555.45. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $506.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $444.11. 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 (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.35 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $73.79 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.44% and a net margin of 36.15%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.95 EPS. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is presently 24.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 39,111 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,624,012.52. This represents a 11.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders sold 8,850 shares of company stock valued at $4,406,512 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays increased their target price on Microsoft from $550.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their target price on Microsoft from $581.00 to $639.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Microsoft from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. KeyCorp upgraded Microsoft from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $630.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, TD Securities increased their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price 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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