Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Stock Purchased by XML Financial LLC

Key Points

• XML Financial increased its Microsoft position by 3% in the second quarter, bringing its holdings to 57,808 shares valued at approximately $21.6 million. Institutional investors collectively own 71.13% of Microsoft.
• Analysts remain broadly bullish: 43 analysts rate Microsoft a Buy, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $569.29.
• Microsoft exceeded quarterly expectations with adjusted EPS of $4.74 and revenue of $90.01 billion, while raising its quarterly dividend to $0.98 per share from $0.91.

XML Financial LLC lifted its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 57,808 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 1,710 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 1.6% of XML Financial LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. XML Financial LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $21,563,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. increased its position in Microsoft by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. now owns 135,630 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $50,593,000 after purchasing an additional 2,048 shares during the period. L.K. Benson & Company P.C. lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 9.5% in the 2nd quarter. L.K. Benson & Company P.C. now owns 2,214 shares of the software giant's stock worth $826,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 16.5% during the 2nd quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 347,843 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $129,752,000 after purchasing an additional 49,178 shares in the last quarter. Beta Wealth Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 4.4% during the second quarter. Beta Wealth Group Inc. now owns 4,439 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,656,000 after buying an additional 187 shares during the period. Finally, Tower View Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% during the second quarter. Tower View Wealth Management LLC now owns 18,048 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $6,732,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $440.00 target price on Microsoft in a research report on Monday. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Microsoft from $515.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 1st. Forty-three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $569.29.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $497.93 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $349.20 and a fifty-two week high of $553.72. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $475.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $425.54. The stock has a market cap of $3.70 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.23.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.50. Microsoft had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 31.98%. The firm had revenue of $90.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $87.62 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.65 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 19th. This is a positive change from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $487.89, for a total transaction of $4,878,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 100,447 shares in the company, valued at $49,007,086.83. This trade represents a 9.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 86,525 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $501.46, for a total value of $43,388,826.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 486,763 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $244,092,173.98. This represents a 15.09% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 143,009 shares of company stock valued at $71,420,699. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

More Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst optimism is increasing. Stifel upgraded Microsoft to Buy from Hold and raised its price target to $575, citing Azure and Copilot growth, durable margins, and a path for AI spending to produce stronger revenue. Jefferies also reaffirmed its Buy rating, while other analysts highlighted potential upside. Why These Wall Street Analysts Think Microsoft Stock Is Getting Back on Track
• Positive Sentiment: Azure demand remains the central growth catalyst. Reports point to a roughly $678 billion backlog and the need for Microsoft to add data-center capacity quickly enough to serve existing customers. Azure Red Hat OpenShift for Azure Government also received DoD Impact Level 5 certification, expanding its use among government and highly regulated customers. Azure Red Hat OpenShift Achieves IL5 Certification
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is expanding its AI infrastructure footprint. The company plans to invest more than $10 billion in Gulf-region cloud, AI, connectivity and cybersecurity infrastructure through 2030, potentially supporting long-term regional demand. Microsoft Plans Gulf Investment

Microsoft Profile

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company that develops software, cloud services, devices and digital solutions for consumers, businesses and public-sector organizations. Its products and services include the Windows operating system, Microsoft 365 productivity applications, Teams collaboration software, Dynamics business applications and Azure cloud computing services.

The company also operates LinkedIn, GitHub and Xbox, which includes gaming consoles, video games and related online services.

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