Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Position Increased by S&CO Inc.

S&CO Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 2.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 162,012 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 3,248 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 4.1% of S&CO Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. S&CO Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $60,817,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. WFA Asset Management Corp increased its holdings in Microsoft by 27.0% during the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant's stock worth $427,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the period. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant's stock worth $5,658,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 410.4% during the third quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 2,659 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,144,000 after buying an additional 2,138 shares during the period. Wealth Group Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. now owns 2,374 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,000,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tallon Kerry Patrick purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $1,375,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Down 2.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT traded down $12.97 during trading on Friday, hitting $495.00. 31,963,969 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 19,697,988. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $509.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $450.60. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month high of $555.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.68 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.29, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.04.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.35 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $73.79 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.15% and a return on equity of 32.44%. Microsoft's revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.95 EPS. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Microsoft's payout ratio is 24.34%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $580.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $525.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. KeyCorp raised shares of Microsoft from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $630.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price target on Microsoft from $581.00 to $639.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $612.54.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 39,111 shares in the company, valued at $20,624,012.52. This represents a 11.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was 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. The trade was a 15.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.