Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Stock Holdings Lifted by Sharp Financial Services LLC

Key Points

• Sharp Financial Services LLC increased its stake in Microsoft Corporation by 53.1%, holding 3,929 shares now worth approximately $1.475 million, marking it as the firm's 10th largest position.
• Microsoft announced a quarterly dividend of $0.83 per share, to be paid on September 11th, reflecting a dividend yield of 0.7% and a payout ratio of 24.34%.
• Wall Street analysts have raised their price targets for Microsoft, with estimates reaching as high as $675.00, reflecting a consensus "Moderate Buy" rating across 32 ratings.

Sharp Financial Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 53.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,929 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 1,363 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 1.1% of Sharp Financial Services LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position. Sharp Financial Services LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,475,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at about $44,343,058,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 40,290.4% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 46,695,303 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $17,528,950,000 after buying an additional 46,579,693 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 34,643.3% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 16,837,278 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $7,096,913,000 after buying an additional 16,788,816 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $35,316,535,000 after buying an additional 11,600,470 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 684,071,705 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $288,336,224,000 after buying an additional 10,431,988 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the business's 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 39,111 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,624,012.52. The trade was a 11.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 8,850 shares of company stock valued at $4,406,512. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.6%

MSFT stock traded up $2.99 during trading on Friday, hitting $507.23. 24,300,741 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 22,487,876. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $555.45. The firm's 50 day moving average is $506.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $444.32. 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 stock has a market cap of $3.77 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.06.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Guggenheim reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Loop Capital lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $650.00 price target (up from $600.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Wedbush lifted 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 investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus 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.