Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Bought by Whelan Financial

Whelan Financial increased its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 13.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,294 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 1,110 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 1.7% of Whelan Financial's investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Whelan Financial's holdings in Microsoft were worth $4,623,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Newton One Investments LLC grew its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Bulwark Capital Corp bought a new position in Microsoft in the second quarter worth about $32,000. Westend Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 386.7% in the second quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the software giant's stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, IFS Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in 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 last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $625.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday. Loop Capital raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $617.44.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 $399,206,272.56. The trade was a 15.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the business's 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 39,111 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,624,012.52. This represents a 11.03% 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 Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $520.56 on Friday. 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 $3.87 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.16, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.03. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $511.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $479.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.35.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.35 by $0.30. The company 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 firm's revenue was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.95 earnings per share. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

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

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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