Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Bought by Financial Management Professionals Inc.

Key Points

• Financial Management Professionals Inc. increased its stake in Microsoft by 9.7%, acquiring a total of 6,086 shares valued at approximately $3 million.
• Microsoft's quarterly dividend was raised from $0.83 to $0.91 and is set to be paid on December 11th, indicating a commitment to returning value to shareholders.
• Wall Street analysts remain optimistic, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a target price of about $618.47 for Microsoft shares.

Financial Management Professionals Inc. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 9.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,086 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 537 shares during the period. Financial Management Professionals Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,027,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 95 shares during the period. Real Talk Capital LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 1.6% during the first quarter. Real Talk Capital LLC now owns 2,290 shares of the software giant's stock worth $860,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 39.3% during the first quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC now owns 144,852 shares of the software giant's stock worth $54,376,000 after purchasing an additional 40,860 shares in the last quarter. Lantz Financial LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 2.5% in the second quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 24,210 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $12,042,000 after purchasing an additional 580 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bridgeway Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 8.3% in the first quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 86,477 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $32,463,000 after buying an additional 6,617 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $527.32, for a total value 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 trade 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 the SEC website. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of Microsoft 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 790,852 shares in the company, valued at approximately $399,206,272.56. This trade represents a 15.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 2.2%

Shares of MSFT opened at $528.57 on Tuesday. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $555.45. The company's fifty day moving average is $513.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $468.70. The firm has a market cap of $3.93 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

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

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. This is a positive change from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $650.00 price objective (up from $600.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report 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 for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Loop Capital increased 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. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Microsoft from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Melius Research lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $595.00 to $625.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $618.47.

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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