FOCUS Wealth Advisors LLC Increases Stake in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

FOCUS Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,784 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 27 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 1.4% of FOCUS Wealth Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding. FOCUS Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,547,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Newton One Investments LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 66.7% during the 1st quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth $44,000. IFS Advisors LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 50.0% during the 1st quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth $62,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $504.78, for a total transaction of $75,315,699.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 790,852 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $399,206,272.56. This trade represents a 15.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $527.32, for a total transaction of $2,557,502.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 39,111 shares in the company, valued at $20,624,012.52. This represents a 11.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $525.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $612.54.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $507.97 on Friday. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $509.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $450.01. Microsoft Corporation has a twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $555.45. The company has a market capitalization of $3.78 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.04.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results 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. 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 the consensus estimate of $73.79 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.95 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.