Woodward Diversified Capital LLC Boosts Stake in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Woodward Diversified Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 47.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,288 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 2,978 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 2.3% of Woodward Diversified Capital LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Woodward Diversified Capital LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $4,620,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Newton One Investments LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 66.7% during the first quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Bulwark Capital Corp bought a new stake in Microsoft during the second quarter valued at about $32,000. Westend Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 386.7% during the second quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, IFS Advisors LLC raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $527.32, for a total transaction of $2,557,502.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the business's 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 790,852 shares of the company's stock, valued at $399,206,272.56. This trade represents a 15.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on Microsoft from $540.00 to $637.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. KeyCorp raised Microsoft from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $630.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Microsoft from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Melius Research lifted their target price on Microsoft from $595.00 to $625.00 in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $650.00 target price (up from $600.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 31st. One 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.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $618.97.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.6%

MSFT opened at $516.79 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.84 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.03. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $555.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $511.72 and a 200 day moving average of $478.10.

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

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be given a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. This is a boost from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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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