Independence Financial Advisors LLC Takes $1.05 Million Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Independence Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 2,809 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $1,054,000. Microsoft accounts for about 0.4% of Independence Financial Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Newton One Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 66.7% in the first quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $62,000. Finally, IFS Advisors LLC increased its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. KeyCorp raised shares of Microsoft from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $630.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $581.00 to $639.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Westpark Capital reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $540.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $530.00 to $582.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $612.54.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of Microsoft 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 approximately $20,624,012.52. The trade was a 11.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $504.78, for a total value of $75,315,699.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 790,852 shares in the company, valued at approximately $399,206,272.56. This represents a 15.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT stock opened at $507.97 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 1.35. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $555.45. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $509.95 and its 200 day moving average is $450.01. The firm has a market cap of $3.78 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.04.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

About Microsoft

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.