Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Purchased by Wealth Alliance Advisory Group LLC

Key Points

• Wealth Alliance Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 8.9%, now holding 19,579 shares valued at approximately $9.7 million, making it the firm’s 15th largest investment.
• Microsoft reported better-than-expected earnings, with $3.65 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding estimates of $3.35 and signifying an 18.1% year-over-year revenue increase at $76.44 billion.
• The company has announced an increase in its quarterly dividend from $0.83 to $0.91, reflecting an annualized dividend yield of 0.7% to be paid on December 11th.

Wealth Alliance Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 8.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,579 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 1,599 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 1.9% of Wealth Alliance Advisory Group LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Wealth Alliance Advisory Group LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $9,739,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Newton One Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 66.7% during 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 during the last quarter. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $44,000. IFS Advisors LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 50.0% during the 1st quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 155.7% in the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 156 shares of the software giant's stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.9%

MSFT opened at $517.93 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.85 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.97, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.04. 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 Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $555.45. The company's 50-day moving average is $511.71 and its 200 day moving average is $457.92.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its 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. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.15% and a return on equity of 32.44%. The business had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $73.79 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.95 EPS. Microsoft's revenue was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. Research analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be paid a $0.91 dividend. This is a boost from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the firm's 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 39,111 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,624,012.52. This trade represents a 11.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred 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. This represents a 15.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on MSFT shares. Loop Capital upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Westpark Capital reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Raymond James Financial increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $490.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $650.00 price target (up previously from $600.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $612.54.

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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