Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Stock Holdings Lifted by Annex Advisory Services LLC

Annex Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 7.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 116,541 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 7,770 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 1.4% of Annex Advisory Services LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Annex Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $57,969,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. PMV Capital Advisers LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 5.9% in the second quarter. PMV Capital Advisers LLC now owns 359 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $178,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Guided Capital Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 0.4% during the second quarter. Guided Capital Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,405 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,688,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Fosun International Ltd grew its stake in Microsoft by 0.3% during the first quarter. Fosun International Ltd now owns 6,633 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,490,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Birchbrook Inc. grew its stake in Microsoft by 0.4% during the first quarter. Birchbrook Inc. now owns 6,326 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,375,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gagnon Securities LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 3.5% during the first quarter. Gagnon Securities LLC now owns 704 shares of the software giant's stock worth $264,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $504.78, for a total value of $75,315,699.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 790,852 shares of the company's stock, valued at $399,206,272.56. This trade represents a 15.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT stock opened at $517.95 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.85 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.04. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $555.45. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $512.38 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $464.45. 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 released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.35 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $73.79 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.15% and a return on equity of 32.44%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.95 earnings per share. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on MSFT. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $585.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Westpark Capital reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Melius Research increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $595.00 to $625.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Raymond James Financial increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $490.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. 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 MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $614.45.

About Microsoft

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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