Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Stake Raised by Walker Financial Services Inc.

Walker Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,754 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 1.8% of Walker Financial Services Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Walker Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,857,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Bulwark Capital Corp acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth about $32,000. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Newton One Investments LLC raised its holdings 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 period. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $44,000. Finally, IFS Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 50.0% in the first 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 period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $504.78, for a total transaction of $75,315,699.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 790,852 shares in the company, valued at $399,206,272.56. This trade represents a 15.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 39,111 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,624,012.52. This trade represents a 11.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $514.60 on Tuesday. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $555.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The business’s 50 day moving average is $512.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $464.07. The company has a market cap of $3.83 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.04.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $73.79 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.95 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. Equities analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on MSFT. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on Microsoft from $540.00 to $637.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Microsoft from $515.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Microsoft from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $625.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, August 29th. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on Microsoft from $540.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. One research 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 data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $614.45.

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.