Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Acquired by Sharp Financial Services LLC

Sharp Financial Services LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 53.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,929 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,363 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 1.1% of Sharp Financial Services LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Sharp Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,475,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Newton One Investments LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 66.7% in the 1st quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $44,000. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $62,000. Finally, IFS Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 50.0% in the 1st quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $527.32, for a total value of $2,557,502.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 39,111 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,624,012.52. The trade was a 11.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 8,850 shares of company stock valued at $4,406,512. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on Microsoft from $540.00 to $637.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Microsoft from $600.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Microsoft from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Mizuho lifted their price target on Microsoft from $540.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Microsoft from $515.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $612.54.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $504.24 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $505.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $443.45. Microsoft Corporation has a twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $555.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.75 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a quick ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.35 by $0.30. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.44% and a net margin of 36.15%.The firm had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $73.79 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.95 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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