Market Street Wealth Management Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report) by 37.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,121 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,228 shares during the quarter. Market Street Wealth Management Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $4,165,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MSFT. Montgomery Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Frankly Finances LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter valued at about $35,000. Bard Associates Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth about $37,000. PMV Capital Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Fiduciary Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 37.4% in the 2nd quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. now owns 125 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Wolfe Research upgraded Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 29th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $440.00 target price on Microsoft in a research note on Monday, September 21st. Guggenheim increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $586.00 to $595.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Microsoft from $575.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 14th. Finally, DA Davidson upped their target price on Microsoft from $550.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-six have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $609.54.
Read Our Latest Research Report on Microsoft
Insider Transactions at Microsoft
In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 86,525 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $501.46, for a total transaction of $43,388,826.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 486,763 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $244,092,173.98. This represents a 15.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Amy Hood sold 7,305 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $544.37, for a total transaction of $3,976,622.85. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 548,091 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $298,364,297.67. This trade represents a 1.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 142,809 shares of company stock valued at $72,114,646 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.
Microsoft Stock Down 2.3%
MSFT stock opened at $521.13 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 1.22. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $349.20 and a one year high of $559.15. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $518.20 and its 200 day moving average is $441.37. The firm has a market cap of $3.87 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.05.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The software giant reported $4.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.72 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $92.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $90.62 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.28% and a net margin of 41.17%. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 18.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $4.13 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.91 EPS for the current year.
Microsoft Increases Dividend
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 19th will be paid a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 19th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 20.46%.
Recent Microsoft Headlines
Investors following MSFT have been watching these headlines:
- Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s cloud and AI businesses continue to attract enterprise use. A new IBM partnership combines Microsoft’s cloud, data and security services with more than 6,000 AI agents; Northern Trust also reported that an agent built with Microsoft cut data-preparation time by 83%. IBM and Microsoft announce an AI agent platform Northern Trust leans on Microsoft to boost agentic AI
- Negative Sentiment: Reports that Microsoft is pushing back against a potential U.S. ban on Chinese data-center components point to a possible obstacle for equipment access and data-center deployment—important given the company’s AI infrastructure needs. Microsoft presses to scuttle expected ban on Chinese data-center technology
- Negative Sentiment: OpenAI’s reported $10.9 billion quarterly adjusted operating loss has renewed questions about the profitability of Microsoft’s major AI partnership and the returns on its AI investment. Microsoft’s OpenAI bet and questions raised by Anthropic’s profit lead
Microsoft Company Profile
Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company that develops software, cloud services, devices, and digital solutions for consumers, businesses, and public-sector organizations. Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, the company is headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Its products and services include the Windows operating system, Microsoft 365 productivity applications, Azure cloud computing, LinkedIn, GitHub, Surface devices, and Xbox gaming products and services. Microsoft also provides business software, cybersecurity tools, and artificial intelligence technologies.
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