Williams Financial LLC Makes New $352,000 Investment in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Williams Financial LLC made a new investment of approximately $352,000 in Microsoft Corporation, acquiring 708 shares, which now represents about 0.4% of their investment portfolio.
• Several institutional investors, including Grant Private Wealth Management and TTP Investments Inc., have significantly increased their stakes in Microsoft during the second quarter, reflecting growing institutional interest.
• Microsoft recently announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.91, set to be paid on December 11th, which is up from the previous $0.83 and reflects an annualized yield of 0.7%.

Williams Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 708 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $352,000. Microsoft accounts for about 0.4% of Williams Financial LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Grant Private Wealth Management Inc raised its stake in Microsoft by 134.2% during the second quarter. Grant Private Wealth Management Inc now owns 14,013 shares of the software giant's stock worth $6,970,000 after purchasing an additional 8,029 shares during the period. TTP Investments Inc. raised its stake in Microsoft by 0.7% during the second quarter. TTP Investments Inc. now owns 23,434 shares of the software giant's stock worth $11,656,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the period. Great Waters Wealth Management raised its stake in Microsoft by 4.9% during the second quarter. Great Waters Wealth Management now owns 5,283 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,628,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares during the period. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated raised its stake in Microsoft by 1.5% during the second quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 22,945 shares of the software giant's stock worth $11,413,000 after purchasing an additional 328 shares during the period. Finally, CX Institutional raised its stake in Microsoft by 10.3% during the second quarter. CX Institutional now owns 92,824 shares of the software giant's stock worth $46,172,000 after purchasing an additional 8,648 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $504.78, for a total value of $75,315,699.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 790,852 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $399,206,272.56. This represents a 15.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the 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 approximately $20,624,012.52. This represents a 11.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $514.60 on Tuesday. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $555.45. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $512.13 and its 200 day moving average price is $464.07. The company has a market cap of $3.83 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.73, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

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

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be given a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. This is a boost from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Microsoft's payout ratio is currently 24.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $582.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $637.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $614.45.

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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