Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Stock Position Lowered by Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC

Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC lessened its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 88,280 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 1,150 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 5.1% of Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $33,146,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Newton One Investments LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 66.7% during the 1st quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth $44,000. IFS Advisors LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 50.0% during the 1st quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant's stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth $62,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target 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. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. TD Securities lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Loop Capital boosted their target price 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. Finally, Wedbush boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $612.54.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, 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 value 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. The trade was a 11.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 8,850 shares of company stock valued at $4,406,512. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.9%

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $506.74 on Thursday. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $555.45. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $507.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $446.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 1.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.77 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.06.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 EPS 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 analyst estimates of $73.79 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.95 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued 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 payout ratio is 24.34%.

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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