Benedict Financial Advisors Inc. Has $14 Million Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Benedict Financial Advisors Inc. decreased its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 37,282 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,199 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 3.2% of Benedict Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Benedict Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $13,995,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Newton One Investments LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 66.7% in the 1st quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,000. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 50.0% in the first 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. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $505.35 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.76 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.05, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.04. 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 quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 1.35. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $509.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $449.32.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.34%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wedbush increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Microsoft from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $630.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $637.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $605.00 to $613.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $612.54.

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.