Microsoft Corporation $MSFT is Peterson Wealth Management's 10th Largest Position

Key Points

• Peterson Wealth Management increased its stake in Microsoft by 4.5% in Q1, making it the firm's 10th largest position, valued at approximately $5.27 million.
• Analyst price targets for Microsoft have been raised, with BMO Capital Markets increasing its target from $550 to $650 and a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" established among analysts.
• Microsoft announced an increase in its quarterly dividend from $0.83 to $0.91 per share, reflecting a 0.7% yield, with payment scheduled for December 11th.

Peterson Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 4.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 14,047 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 602 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 3.5% of Peterson Wealth Management's investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Peterson Wealth Management's holdings in Microsoft were worth $5,273,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Fosun International Ltd grew its holdings in Microsoft by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Fosun International Ltd now owns 6,633 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,490,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Birchbrook Inc. grew its holdings in Microsoft by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Birchbrook Inc. now owns 6,326 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,375,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Gagnon Securities LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Gagnon Securities LLC now owns 704 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $264,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Alliance Wealth Management Group grew its holdings in Microsoft by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Alliance Wealth Management Group now owns 5,617 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,368,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Guidance Point Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Guidance Point Advisors LLC now owns 4,294 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,811,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on MSFT. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $530.00 to $582.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Microsoft from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $630.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $612.54.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $504.78, for a total transaction of $75,315,699.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 790,852 shares of the company's stock, valued at $399,206,272.56. This represents a 15.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 39,111 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,624,012.52. The trade was 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.

Microsoft Trading Up 1.1%

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $515.36 on Tuesday. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $555.45. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $510.90 and a 200 day moving average of $455.45. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $3.83 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.78, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.04.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.35 by $0.30. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.15% and a return on equity of 32.44%. The company had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $73.79 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.95 earnings per share. Microsoft's revenue for the quarter 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 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 20th will be given a dividend of $0.91 per share. This is a boost 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 is presently 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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