Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Bought by Principal Securities Inc.

Principal Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 0.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 151,078 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 661 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 1.3% of Principal Securities Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Principal Securities Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $56,713,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Newton One Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 66.7% in the first quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $44,000. IFS Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 50.0% in the first 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 period. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $62,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $504.26 on Tuesday. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month high of $555.45. The stock has a market cap of $3.75 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.06. 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 company has a 50-day moving average of $506.58 and a 200 day moving average of $445.18.

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, 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 business had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $73.79 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.95 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Loop Capital upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Westpark Capital restated a "hold" rating 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 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. One equities research 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 company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $612.54.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 8,850 shares of company stock valued at $4,406,512. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

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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