Jackson Thornton Wealth Management LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Jackson Thornton Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 6,530 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 0.4% of Jackson Thornton Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Jackson Thornton Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,243,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Newton One Investments LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 66.7% during the 1st quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Bulwark Capital Corp acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth $32,000. Westend Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 386.7% in the 2nd quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 155.7% during the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 156 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 38,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $518.64, for a total value of $19,967,640.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 461,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $239,402,668.08. This represents a 7.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 transaction of $75,315,699.90. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on MSFT. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, October 24th. Rothschild & Co Redburn reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $500.00 target price (down from $560.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday. Guggenheim set a $675.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $682.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Baird R W upgraded shares of Microsoft to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $634.33.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.4%

Microsoft stock opened at $487.12 on Thursday. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $555.45. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $514.09 and its 200-day moving average is $498.25. 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 company has a market cap of $3.62 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.65, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.02.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.65 by $0.48. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.71% and a return on equity of 33.47%. The firm had revenue of $77.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $75.49 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.30 earnings per share. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. Microsoft has set its Q2 2026 guidance at EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company 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 $0.91 dividend. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 25.89%.

Microsoft Company Profile

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.