Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Bought by Legacy Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Legacy Advisors increased its Microsoft stake by 15.7% in the second quarter, bringing its holdings to 37,656 shares valued at approximately $14.0 million. Institutional investors collectively own 71.13% of Microsoft.
• Microsoft reported quarterly earnings of $4.74 per share on revenue of $90.01 billion, beating analyst estimates, while revenue rose 17.7% year over year. The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.98 per share, an 8% increase.
• Wall Street maintains a generally positive view, with 43 analysts rating the stock a Buy and a consensus price target of $569.29. However, CEO Satya Nadella and another executive recently sold shares under pre-arranged trading plans.

Legacy Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 15.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 37,656 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 5,109 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 1.3% of Legacy Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Legacy Advisors LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $14,046,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Investment Partners Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Microsoft by 9.9% in the second quarter. Investment Partners Asset Management Inc. now owns 14,060 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $5,245,000 after buying an additional 1,271 shares in the last quarter. Greenwood Gearhart LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 7.2% during the second quarter. Greenwood Gearhart LLC now owns 114,410 shares of the software giant's stock worth $42,677,000 after buying an additional 7,673 shares during the last quarter. Opus Financial Solutions LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 5.7% during the second quarter. Opus Financial Solutions LLC now owns 2,866 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,069,000 after buying an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 15.2% during the second quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 6,364 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,374,000 after buying an additional 840 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co now owns 108,104 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $40,325,000 after acquiring an additional 798 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.5%

Microsoft stock opened at $497.93 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.70 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.72, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.11. Microsoft Corporation has a 52-week low of $349.20 and a 52-week high of $553.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.23. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $475.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $425.54.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.50. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.98% and a net margin of 40.31%.The firm had revenue of $90.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $87.62 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.65 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.62 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 19th will be paid a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. This is a boost from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 19th. Microsoft's payout ratio is presently 20.27%.

More Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst optimism is increasing. Stifel upgraded Microsoft to Buy from Hold and raised its price target to $575, citing Azure and Copilot growth, durable margins, and a path for AI spending to produce stronger revenue. Jefferies also reaffirmed its Buy rating, while other analysts highlighted potential upside. Why These Wall Street Analysts Think Microsoft Stock Is Getting Back on Track
• Positive Sentiment: Azure demand remains the central growth catalyst. Reports point to a roughly $678 billion backlog and the need for Microsoft to add data-center capacity quickly enough to serve existing customers. Azure Red Hat OpenShift for Azure Government also received DoD Impact Level 5 certification, expanding its use among government and highly regulated customers. Azure Red Hat OpenShift Achieves IL5 Certification
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is expanding its AI infrastructure footprint. The company plans to invest more than $10 billion in Gulf-region cloud, AI, connectivity and cybersecurity infrastructure through 2030, potentially supporting long-term regional demand. Microsoft Plans Gulf Investment

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 86,525 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $501.46, for a total transaction of $43,388,826.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 486,763 shares of the company's stock, valued at $244,092,173.98. This trade represents a 15.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $487.89, for a total transaction of $4,878,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 100,447 shares in the company, valued at $49,007,086.83. This represents a 9.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 143,009 shares of company stock valued at $71,420,699 over the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on MSFT. Barclays cut their price objective on Microsoft from $545.00 to $512.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Microsoft from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Mizuho cut their price target on Microsoft from $515.00 to $490.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Forty-three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $569.29.

Microsoft Profile

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company that develops software, cloud services, devices and digital solutions for consumers, businesses and public-sector organizations. Its products and services include the Windows operating system, Microsoft 365 productivity applications, Teams collaboration software, Dynamics business applications and Azure cloud computing services.

The company also operates LinkedIn, GitHub and Xbox, which includes gaming consoles, video games and related online services.

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