Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Bought by Covington Investment Advisors Inc.

Key Points

• Covington Investment Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Microsoft by 5.0% in Q1, holding 93,782 shares valued at $35.2 million, making it the second largest holding in their portfolio.
• Company insiders, including EVP Takeshi Numoto and CEO Satya Nadella, sold significant amounts of stock recently, reducing their ownership stakes by 11.03% and 15.87%, respectively.
• Multiple analysts have raised their target prices for Microsoft, with consensus estimates now ranging from $612.54 to $650.00, reflecting strong confidence in the company's future growth.

Covington Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 5.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 93,782 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 4,457 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 5.4% of Covington Investment Advisors Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Covington Investment Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $35,205,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 6,650 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,496,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Services Inc. raised its stake in Microsoft by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Services Inc. now owns 17,426 shares of the software giant's stock worth $7,345,000 after purchasing an additional 1,268 shares in the last quarter. Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. raised its stake in Microsoft by 147.9% in the 4th quarter. Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. now owns 1,748 shares of the software giant's stock worth $737,000 after purchasing an additional 1,043 shares in the last quarter. Intellus Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth about $16,075,000. Finally, Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 54,910 shares of the software giant's stock worth $23,144,000 after purchasing an additional 2,014 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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 company's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 39,111 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,624,012.52. This represents a 11.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was 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 approximately $399,206,272.56. The trade was a 15.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the subject of several analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $581.00 to $639.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $650.00 target price (up from $600.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $585.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $580.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $612.54.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $498.20 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.70 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.04. 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's 50 day moving average is $509.95 and its 200 day moving average is $451.72. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $73.79 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.95 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft 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.

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