Smith Group Asset Management LLC Grows Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Smith Group Asset Management increased its Microsoft stake by 5.5% in the first quarter, owning 175,269 shares valued at approximately $64.9 million. Institutional investors hold 71.13% of Microsoft’s shares.
• Microsoft reported strong quarterly results, with revenue rising 17.7% year over year to $90.01 billion and earnings of $4.74 per share, exceeding analyst expectations.
• Analysts remain broadly bullish, with 42 Buy ratings and five Holds; the consensus rating is “Moderate Buy” with a $560.27 price target. Microsoft also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share.

Smith Group Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 5.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 175,269 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 9,198 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 3.3% of Smith Group Asset Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Smith Group Asset Management LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $64,879,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. WFA Asset Management Corp grew its position in Microsoft by 27.0% in the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $427,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. lifted its position in 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 lifted its position in Microsoft by 410.4% during the 3rd quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 2,659 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,144,000 after buying an additional 2,138 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. now owns 2,374 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,000,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 23,097 shares of the software giant's stock worth $9,735,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MSFT. Barclays lowered their target price on Microsoft from $545.00 to $512.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Tigress Financial raised their price target on Microsoft from $680.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on Microsoft from $502.00 to $522.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. DA Davidson reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, July 20th. Forty-two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $560.27.

Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT opened at $496.88 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $349.20 and a 12-month high of $553.72. The stock has a market cap of $3.69 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.67, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.11. The business has a 50 day moving average of $409.70 and a 200-day moving average of $407.88. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.50. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.98% and a net margin of 40.31%.The business had revenue of $90.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $87.62 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.65 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. Microsoft's payout ratio is currently 20.27%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $496.48, for a total value of $2,388,068.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 42,677 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,188,276.96. This represents a 10.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.99, for a total transaction of $7,145,345.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 110,477 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,928,792.23. This represents a 12.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 37,310 shares of company stock worth $17,256,219 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Pershing Square’s Bill Ackman reaffirmed his bullish Azure thesis, arguing that continued capacity investment and Microsoft 365’s embedded customer base can support high-teens earnings growth. Microsoft Stock Rises as Ackman Reaffirms Azure Bet
• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan raised its Microsoft price target to $625, citing accelerating Copilot adoption and infrastructure growth. Wells Fargo also maintained an overweight rating and lifted its target to $700, reinforcing the view that the stock’s AI-driven recovery has further upside. JPMorgan Raises Microsoft Price Target
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft began gradually combining its consumer and enterprise Copilot applications into a unified AI platform. The planned “super app” could improve user adoption, cross-selling and Microsoft’s competitive position against ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude. Microsoft Unifies Consumer and Enterprise Copilot
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft accepted IREN’s first AI data-center deployment under a $9.7 billion cloud agreement. The milestone supports Azure’s ability to secure additional computing capacity as AI infrastructure demand remains strong. IREN Hands Microsoft Its First AI Cloud Deployment
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft is reportedly closing or restructuring numerous China offices and joint ventures, while retaining an Azure-linked presence. The move may reduce geopolitical exposure but could also limit access to the Chinese market. Microsoft Retreats in China
• Negative Sentiment: A report said Microsoft plans to cut carbon-removal purchases while AI-related emissions rise, creating potential reputational and environmental concerns. Microsoft Carbon Removal Purchases Report

Microsoft Company Profile

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, Microsoft develops, licenses and supports a broad range of software products, services and devices for consumers, enterprises and governments worldwide. Its operations span personal computing, productivity software, cloud infrastructure, enterprise applications, developer tools and gaming.

Microsoft's product portfolio includes the Windows operating system and the Microsoft 365 suite of productivity and collaboration tools (Office apps, Outlook, Teams).

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MSFT? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

Continue following MarketBeat

Add MarketBeat as your preferred source on Google to see our latest stories in your feed.

Add As Preferred Source