Sheets Smith Wealth Management Increases Stake in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Sheets Smith Wealth Management has increased its stake in Microsoft Corporation by 9.8%, bringing its total holdings to 17,063 shares valued at approximately $8.5 million.
• Several institutional investors have also increased their positions in Microsoft, with 71.13% of the company's stock now owned by hedge funds and other institutional entities.
• Microsoft recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share, up from its previous dividend of $0.83, with an ex-dividend date set for November 20th.

Sheets Smith Wealth Management increased its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 9.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 17,063 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 1,516 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 1.0% of Sheets Smith Wealth Management's investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Sheets Smith Wealth Management's holdings in Microsoft were worth $8,487,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Newton One Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 66.7% in the 1st quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Bulwark Capital Corp bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Westend Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 386.7% in the 2nd quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the software giant's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Finally, LSV Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $44,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $625.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, August 29th. KeyCorp upgraded 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. Raymond James Financial raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $490.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Arete raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $700.00 to $710.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $617.63.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 790,852 shares in the company, valued at approximately $399,206,272.56. The trade was a 15.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $527.32, for a total value of $2,557,502.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 39,111 shares in the company, valued at $20,624,012.52. The trade was a 11.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $517.35 on Monday. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $555.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.85 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.93, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.03. 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 stock's 50-day simple moving average is $512.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $467.74.

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

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. This is a positive change from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Microsoft's payout ratio is presently 24.34%.

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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