Wesleyan Assurance Society Grows Stock Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Wesleyan Assurance Society boosted its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 5.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 264,251 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 13,255 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 7.4% of Wesleyan Assurance Society's investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Wesleyan Assurance Society's holdings in Microsoft were worth $99,054,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Newton One Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 66.7% during 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. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth about $44,000. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth about $62,000. Finally, IFS Advisors LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 50.0% during the first quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $505.12 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.75 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.04. Microsoft Corporation has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $555.45. The business's fifty day moving average is $509.48 and its 200 day moving average is $448.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 1.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its 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. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.44% and a net margin of 36.15%.The business had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $73.79 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.95 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on MSFT. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $530.00 to $582.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Wedbush lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Microsoft from $580.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Microsoft from $605.00 to $613.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. One equities research 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $612.54.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owned 39,111 shares in the company, valued at $20,624,012.52. The trade was a 11.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.03% of the stock is 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.

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