Formidable Asset Management LLC Raises Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Formidable Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 1.1%, owning a total of 47,741 shares, making Microsoft its 5th largest holding with a valuation of approximately $17.9 million.
• Recent insider trading saw Takeshi Numoto, EVP, sell 4,850 shares of Microsoft worth over $2.5 million, marking an 11.03% decrease in his position.
• Microsoft reported a strong earnings performance with $3.65 earnings per share for the last quarter, surpassing estimates, and has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.83 per share to be paid on September 11th.

Formidable Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 47,741 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 519 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 3.0% of Formidable Asset Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 5th largest position. Formidable Asset Management LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $17,922,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Newton One Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 66.7% during the 1st quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth about $44,000. IFS Advisors LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 50.0% in the 1st 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 bought a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth about $62,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on MSFT shares. Citigroup upped their target price on Microsoft from $605.00 to $613.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Raymond James Financial upped their target price on Microsoft from $490.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. UBS Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $650.00 target price (up from $600.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Wedbush upped their target price on Microsoft from $600.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price on Microsoft from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $612.54.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 39,111 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,624,012.52. This represents a 11.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.6%

Microsoft stock traded down $2.95 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $506.69. The company had a trading volume of 20,949,937 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,296,634. 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 company has a 50-day moving average price of $508.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $447.85. The firm has a market cap of $3.77 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.04. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month 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 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.35 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $73.79 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.44% and a net margin of 36.15%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.95 EPS. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

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.