Friedenthal Financial Buys New Stake in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Friedenthal Financial acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 401 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $199,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Newton One Investments LLC grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Bulwark Capital Corp purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter worth about $32,000. Westend Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 386.7% during the second quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 155.7% during the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 156 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the topic of several analyst reports. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $625.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, August 29th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $565.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. DA Davidson set a $650.00 price target on Microsoft in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $625.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $634.67.

Microsoft Price Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $525.76 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $555.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.91 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.03. 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 50-day simple moving average is $513.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $485.93.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.65 by $0.48. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.47% and a net margin of 35.71%.The firm had revenue of $77.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $75.49 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.30 EPS. Microsoft’s revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. Microsoft has set its Q2 2026 guidance at EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 20th will be given 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 (DPR) is currently 24.34%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 39,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,624,012.52. This represents a 11.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $399,206,272.56. This represents a 15.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.