Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Stock Holdings Increased by Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc.

Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. increased its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,115 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 613 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 3.5% of Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $8,513,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 3,358,993 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,652,792,000 after purchasing an additional 126,746 shares during the period. Almanack Investment Partners LLC. boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 20.1% in the 2nd quarter. Almanack Investment Partners LLC. now owns 9,292 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,622,000 after buying an additional 1,558 shares during the period. Index Fund Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 85.5% during the second quarter. Index Fund Advisors Inc. now owns 6,997 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,480,000 after buying an additional 3,226 shares in the last quarter. M3 Advisory Group LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 20.4% during the second quarter. M3 Advisory Group LLC now owns 5,576 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,773,000 after buying an additional 945 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Yarger Wealth Strategies LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 10.3% during the second quarter. Yarger Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 5,884 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,927,000 after buying an additional 550 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $496.82 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $513.88 and a two-hundred day moving average of $492.43. The company has a market capitalization of $3.69 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.02. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $555.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.35.

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

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.89%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 39,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,624,012.52. This trade represents a 11.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 38,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $518.64, for a total transaction of $19,967,640.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 461,597 shares in the company, valued at approximately $239,402,668.08. This represents a 7.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 192,555 shares of company stock worth $97,840,842. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Loop Capital lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Guggenheim raised shares of Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $586.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Melius Research boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $595.00 to $625.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, Westpark Capital restated a “hold” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $634.47.

Microsoft 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.