Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Stock Position Boosted by Eukles Asset Management

Eukles Asset Management boosted its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 28,366 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 321 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 4.7% of Eukles Asset Management’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Eukles Asset Management’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $10,648,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $44,343,058,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 40,290.4% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 46,695,303 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $17,528,950,000 after acquiring an additional 46,579,693 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 34,643.3% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 16,837,278 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $7,096,913,000 after acquiring an additional 16,788,816 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $35,316,535,000 after acquiring an additional 11,600,470 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 684,071,705 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $288,336,224,000 after acquiring an additional 10,431,988 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $527.32, for a total value of $2,557,502.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 39,111 shares in the company, valued at $20,624,012.52. This represents a 11.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 8,850 shares of company stock valued at $4,406,512. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $612.54.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $505.72 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $504.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $442.81. 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 market cap of $3.76 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.08, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.06.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.35 by $0.30. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.15% and a return on equity of 32.44%. The business had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $73.79 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.95 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 24.34%.

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.