Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. Boosts Stake in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 34.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,283 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 328 shares during the period. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $638,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Strategic Planning Group LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 8.3% during the second quarter. Strategic Planning Group LLC now owns 49,323 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $24,534,000 after acquiring an additional 3,779 shares during the period. Westend Capital Management LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 386.7% during the second quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. Masso Torrence Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in Microsoft by 7.4% during the second quarter. Masso Torrence Wealth Management Inc. now owns 13,997 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $6,962,000 after acquiring an additional 965 shares during the period. Iams Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 22.4% during the second quarter. Iams Wealth Management LLC now owns 15,124 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $7,523,000 after acquiring an additional 2,767 shares during the period. Finally, LCM Capital Management Inc grew its position in Microsoft by 4.2% during the second quarter. LCM Capital Management Inc now owns 22,001 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $10,944,000 after acquiring an additional 877 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the business’s 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 legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the business’s 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 trade represents 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.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Wedbush boosted their price target on Microsoft from $600.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $525.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $581.00 to $639.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Arete boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $700.00 to $710.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $617.63.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.8%

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $515.74 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 one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $555.45. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $512.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $465.70. The stock has a market cap of $3.83 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.03.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $73.79 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.95 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

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

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.