Graves Light Lenhart Wealth Inc. Has $5.88 Million Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Graves Light Lenhart Wealth Inc. reduced its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 11,828 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 21 shares during the period. Graves Light Lenhart Wealth Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $5,883,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 691,386,214 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $259,539,471,000 after acquiring an additional 7,314,509 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 168,128,024 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $70,720,874,000 after acquiring an additional 3,103,212 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $44,343,058,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $35,316,535,000 after acquiring an additional 11,600,470 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 3.8% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 62,267,822 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $23,374,718,000 after acquiring an additional 2,306,485 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on MSFT. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Raymond James Financial increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $490.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $530.00 to $582.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $612.54.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owned 39,111 shares in the company, valued at $20,624,012.52. This trade represents a 11.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owned 790,852 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $399,206,272.56. This trade represents a 15.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.2%

MSFT stock opened at $510.15 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.79 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $555.45. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $512.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $460.28.

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

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 20th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. 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.