MMA Asset Management LLC Increases Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• MMA Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Microsoft Corporation by 18.9%, now holding 5,299 shares worth approximately $1.99 million, making it the firm's 24th largest holding.
• Various hedge funds, including Vanguard Group and Geode Capital Management, also increased their stakes in Microsoft, reflecting strong institutional interest, with 71.13% of the stock owned by institutional investors.
• Analysts have upgraded Microsoft's rating multiple times, with target prices raised to $675.00, indicating a generally optimistic outlook among market experts.

MMA Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 18.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 5,299 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 842 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 0.8% of MMA Asset Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. MMA Asset Management LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,989,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Newton One Investments LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 66.7% during the first 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 period. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth approximately $44,000. IFS Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 50.0% during the first quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant's stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $62,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of MSFT traded up $3.70 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $498.70. The stock had a trading volume of 3,592,324 shares, compared to its average volume of 22,143,160. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a market cap of $3.71 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.04. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $509.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $451.09. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $555.45.

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 net margin of 36.15% and a return on equity of 32.44%. The firm had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $73.79 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.95 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is presently 24.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on Microsoft from $581.00 to $639.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Wedbush increased their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $650.00 price target (up from $600.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Scotiabank raised their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $625.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, August 29th. One 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $612.54.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 790,852 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $399,206,272.56. This trade represents a 15.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of Microsoft 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 39,111 shares in the company, 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. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Company Profile

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.