Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Stock Holdings Increased by Whitaker Myers Wealth Managers LTD.

Whitaker Myers Wealth Managers LTD. increased its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 37.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,264 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 1,426 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 0.7% of Whitaker Myers Wealth Managers LTD.’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Whitaker Myers Wealth Managers LTD.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,618,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Birchbrook Inc. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% in the first quarter. Birchbrook Inc. now owns 6,326 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,375,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Fosun International Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of 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 period. Gagnon Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 3.5% in the first quarter. Gagnon Securities LLC now owns 704 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $264,000 after buying an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Alliance Wealth Management Group increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Alliance Wealth Management Group now owns 5,617 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,368,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Guidance Point Advisors LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Guidance Point Advisors LLC now owns 4,294 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,811,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 39,111 shares of the company’s stock, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $504.78, for a total value of $75,315,699.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 790,852 shares in the company, valued at approximately $399,206,272.56. The trade was a 15.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.3%

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $508.45 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $511.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of $457.02. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $555.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.78 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.35.

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

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 20th will be given a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 24.34%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Raymond James Financial boosted their target price on Microsoft from $490.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Microsoft from $515.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Microsoft from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Microsoft from $550.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on 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 issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently 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.