Golden State Equity Partners Increases Stake in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Golden State Equity Partners lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 40,065 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,736 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 3.7% of Golden State Equity Partners’ portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Golden State Equity Partners’ holdings in Microsoft were worth $19,929,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. PMV Capital Advisers LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 5.9% in the 2nd quarter. PMV Capital Advisers LLC now owns 359 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $178,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Guided Capital Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Guided Capital Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,405 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,688,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Fosun International Ltd raised its position in Microsoft by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Fosun International Ltd now owns 6,633 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,490,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Birchbrook Inc. raised its position in Microsoft by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Birchbrook Inc. now owns 6,326 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,375,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gagnon Securities LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Gagnon Securities LLC now owns 704 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $264,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 39,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,624,012.52. The trade was a 11.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 790,852 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 currently owned by insiders.

Microsoft Price Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $517.35 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 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $555.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.85 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.03. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $512.83 and a 200-day moving average of $466.63.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly 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. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.44% and a net margin of 36.15%.The company had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $73.79 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.95 EPS. Microsoft’s revenue was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 24.34%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on MSFT. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Microsoft from $550.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $650.00 price target (up previously from $600.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Microsoft from $580.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on Microsoft from $540.00 to $637.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $617.63.

About Microsoft

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.