Polaris Financial Partners Acquires New Stake in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Polaris Financial Partners opened a Microsoft position, purchasing 8,672 shares worth about $4.49 million in the third quarter. The stock represents 2.1% of its portfolio and is its 11th-largest holding.
• Microsoft beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, reporting $4.89 per share and $92.28 billion in revenue; revenue increased 18.8% year over year. Analysts’ consensus rating is “Moderate Buy,” with an average price target of $609.54.
• Microsoft raised its quarterly dividend from $0.91 to $0.98 per share. Meanwhile, company insiders sold 135,504 shares worth about $68.1 million over the past three months, with disclosed sales under pre-arranged trading plans.

Polaris Financial Partners bought a new position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 8,672 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $4,493,000. Microsoft accounts for 2.1% of Polaris Financial Partners' portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Montgomery Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the second quarter worth $26,000. Frankly Finances LLC bought a new position in Microsoft in the second quarter worth $35,000. Bard Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Microsoft during the second quarter valued at $37,000. PMV Capital Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft during the second quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Fiduciary Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Microsoft by 37.4% during the second quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. now owns 125 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 86,525 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were 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. The trade was a 15.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Amy Hood sold 7,305 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $545.42, for a total transaction of $3,984,293.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 555,396 shares of the company's stock, valued at $302,924,086.32. This trade represents a 1.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Insiders have sold a total of 135,504 shares of company stock worth $68,138,024 over the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Microsoft from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 29th. KeyCorp set a $625.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $640.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Argus cut their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $620.00 to $510.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $625.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, October 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-five have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $609.54.

Trending Headlines about Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Recent results provide a counterpoint: Microsoft beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, while strong Azure demand and AI adoption support growth in its cloud business. MSFT Q1 Earnings Call Highlights Azure Growth and AI Spending
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft’s decision not to take up an option to expand Nscale’s Texas data-center capacity appears connected to construction delays and tighter scrutiny of infrastructure partners. It may reflect capital discipline and project execution concerns, rather than a broad retreat from AI investment. Microsoft tightens oversight of neocloud data center projects
• Negative Sentiment: The abandoned expansion has stoked investor concerns about delayed AI capacity coming online and whether heavy data-center investment will generate sufficient cloud returns. Reports of an AI-spending shortfall have also weighed on sentiment toward infrastructure partners and Microsoft’s growth outlook. Why Microsoft Stock is Down Today
• Negative Sentiment: Technology shares sold off broadly late Thursday, adding sector-wide pressure to MSFT. Sector Update: Tech Stocks Tumble Late Afternoon

Microsoft Trading Down 3.6%

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $535.93 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $349.20 and a 12 month high of $559.15. The stock has a market cap of $3.98 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.05. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $516.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $439.80. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The software giant reported $4.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.72 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $92.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.62 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.28% and a net margin of 41.17%. The company's revenue was up 18.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.13 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 19th will be given a dividend of $0.98 per share. This is a positive change from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 19th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Microsoft's payout ratio is currently 20.46%.

About Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation NASDAQ: MSFT is a global technology company that develops software, cloud services, devices and digital platforms. Its products and services are used by consumers, businesses, governments and educational institutions worldwide.

The company's principal offerings include the Windows operating system; Microsoft 365 productivity applications such as Word, Excel, Teams and Outlook; Azure cloud computing and infrastructure services; Dynamics business applications; and enterprise security solutions.

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