Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Bought by Novare Capital Management LLC

Novare Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 0.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 120,349 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 745 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 3.9% of Novare Capital Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Novare Capital Management LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $45,178,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Newton One Investments LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 66.7% in the first quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $44,000. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $62,000. Finally, IFS Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 50.0% in the first quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT opened at $504.24 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.75 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.97, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.06. Microsoft Corporation has a twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $555.45. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $505.43 and its 200 day moving average price is $443.45. 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 (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.35 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $73.79 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.15% and a return on equity of 32.44%. Microsoft's quarterly revenue was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.95 earnings per share. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on MSFT shares. TD Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $530.00 to $582.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $637.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $612.54.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 directly 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 the SEC website. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 8,850 shares of company stock valued at $4,406,512. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Company 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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