Clark & Stuart Inc Raises Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Clark & Stuart Inc grew its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 11.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,052 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 307 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 1.1% of Clark & Stuart Inc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Clark & Stuart Inc’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,518,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bulwark Capital Corp bought a new position in Microsoft during the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Westend Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 386.7% in the second quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. Newton One Investments LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 66.7% during the first quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, Legend Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Microsoft in the second quarter worth about $69,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on MSFT shares. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Rothschild & Co Redburn lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Evercore ISI restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $625.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Microsoft from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on Microsoft from $585.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $626.58.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 790,852 shares in the company, valued at approximately $399,206,272.56. This represents a 15.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president directly 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $541.55 on Thursday. Microsoft Corporation has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week 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 firm’s fifty day moving average is $513.17 and its 200 day moving average is $485.65. The company has a market cap of $4.03 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.70, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.03.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.65 by $0.48. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.15% and a return on equity of 32.44%. The business’s revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.30 EPS. Microsoft has set its Q2 2026 guidance at EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

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