New Century Financial Group LLC Buys 1,960 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

New Century Financial Group LLC increased its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 67.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,867 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,960 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 2.8% of New Century Financial Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. New Century Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,421,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Microsoft by 1.1% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 691,386,214 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $259,539,471,000 after purchasing an additional 7,314,509 shares during the period. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 564,387.1% in the second quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 90,549,369 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $45,040,162,000 after purchasing an additional 90,533,328 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Microsoft by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $35,316,535,000 after purchasing an additional 11,600,470 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its position in 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 worth $23,374,718,000 after purchasing an additional 2,306,485 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 59,961,337 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $25,273,704,000 after purchasing an additional 5,370,546 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the subject of several research reports. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Microsoft from $600.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $515.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $585.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $617.44.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of Microsoft 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $520.56 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $511.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $479.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.35, a current 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 stock has a market capitalization of $3.87 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $73.79 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.95 earnings per share. The firm’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. On average, research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

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

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.