Microsoft Corporation $MSFT is Iams Wealth Management LLC's 3rd Largest Position

Key Points

• Iams Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 22.4%, making it the fund's third-largest position, valued at approximately $7.5 million.
• Microsoft's quarterly dividend has been raised to $0.91 per share, reflecting a positive change from its previous dividend of $0.83.
• Equities analysts are optimistic about Microsoft, with many raising their price targets, resulting in an average price target of $617.63 and an overall rating of "Moderate Buy."

Iams Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 22.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 15,124 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 2,767 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 3.5% of Iams Wealth Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Iams Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $7,523,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Newton One Investments LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 66.7% in 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 position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Bulwark Capital Corp purchased a new position in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth about $32,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, IFS Advisors LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 50.0% in 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other 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 transaction of $2,557,502.00. Following the sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $637.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $582.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $625.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, August 29th. Finally, Wedbush upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $617.63.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.8%

MSFT stock opened at $515.74 on Friday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $3.83 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.81, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.03. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $512.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $465.70.

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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.35 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $73.79 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.44% and a net margin of 36.15%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.95 EPS. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

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

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