Peterson Wealth Services Raises Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Peterson Wealth Services increased its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 16,746 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 271 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 2.3% of Peterson Wealth Services’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position. Peterson Wealth Services’ holdings in Microsoft were worth $8,329,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Bulwark Capital Corp bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. Westend Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 386.7% in the 2nd quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $44,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC raised its stake 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 valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 29.9% during the second quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 126 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $474.00 on Tuesday. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $555.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.52 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.02. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $512.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $499.54.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $77.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $75.49 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.30 EPS. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Microsoft has set its Q2 2026 guidance at EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 25.89%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, November 19th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $650.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Arete Research upped their target price on Microsoft from $710.00 to $730.00 in a report on Monday, October 27th. BNP Paribas Exane raised their price target on Microsoft from $630.00 to $632.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $634.33.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was 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 $399,206,272.56. The trade was a 15.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 38,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was 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 owned 461,597 shares in the company, valued at $239,402,668.08. The trade was a 7.70% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.