Brown Financial Advisory raised its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 233.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 2,159 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 1,511 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 0.5% of Brown Financial Advisory's portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Brown Financial Advisory's holdings in Microsoft were worth $810,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fosun International Ltd raised its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 23 shares during the period. Alliance Wealth Management Group raised its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Guidance Point Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc. now owns 533 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $225,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the period. Finally, Life Planning Partners Inc raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Life Planning Partners Inc now owns 540 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $228,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.
Insider Activity at Microsoft
In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the business'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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 39,111 shares in the company, valued at $20,624,012.52. The trade was a 11.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In 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 company insiders.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several brokerages recently commented on MSFT. Truist Financial raised their target price on Microsoft from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Microsoft from $525.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, KeyCorp upgraded Microsoft from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $630.00 price objective for the company 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 given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $612.54.
Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on MSFT
Microsoft Price Performance
Shares of MSFT opened at $507.23 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $3.77 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.19, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.06. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $506.08 and a 200-day moving average of $444.52. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $555.45.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.35 by $0.30. The company 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 business's revenue was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.95 EPS. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. As a group, 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 given a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.34%.
Microsoft Profile
(
Free Report)
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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