LaSalle St. Investment Advisors LLC Buys 3,327 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

LaSalle St. Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 28.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 15,146 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,327 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 1.3% of LaSalle St. Investment Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. LaSalle St. Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $5,685,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Fosun International Ltd lifted its position in Microsoft by 0.3% during the first quarter. Fosun International Ltd now owns 6,633 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,490,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Gagnon Securities LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 3.5% during the first quarter. Gagnon Securities LLC now owns 704 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $264,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Alliance Wealth Management Group lifted its position in Microsoft by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Alliance Wealth Management Group now owns 5,617 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,368,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Guidance Point Advisors LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Guidance Point Advisors LLC now owns 4,294 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,811,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Orin Green Financial LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Orin Green Financial LLC now owns 2,136 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $767,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owned 39,111 shares in the company, valued at $20,624,012.52. The trade was a 11.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 790,852 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $399,206,272.56. The trade was a 15.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Down 2.6%

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $495.00 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.35. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $509.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $450.85. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $555.45. The stock has a market cap of $3.68 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.04.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 analysts’ expectations of $73.79 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.95 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 24.34%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $581.00 to $639.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $530.00 to $582.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $490.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.