Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Stake Lifted by Equitable Trust Co.

Equitable Trust Co. raised its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 129,538 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 2.7% of Equitable Trust Co.’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Equitable Trust Co.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $48,627,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 6,650 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,496,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Services Inc. grew its position in Microsoft by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Services Inc. now owns 17,426 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $7,345,000 after acquiring an additional 1,268 shares in the last quarter. Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. grew its position in Microsoft by 147.9% in the 4th quarter. Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. now owns 1,748 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $737,000 after acquiring an additional 1,043 shares in the last quarter. Intellus Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $16,075,000. Finally, Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 54,910 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $23,144,000 after purchasing an additional 2,014 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $505.35 on Thursday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $3.76 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.04. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $509.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of $449.32. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $555.45.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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 dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 24.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the business’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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 39,111 shares in the company, valued at $20,624,012.52. The trade was a 11.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on MSFT shares. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $600.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $625.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, August 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on Microsoft from $540.00 to $637.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Westpark Capital reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. One research 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 stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $612.54.

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.