Microsoft Corporation $MSFT is LifeSteps Financial Inc.’s 4th Largest Position

LifeSteps Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,952 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 259 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 4.8% of LifeSteps Financial Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. LifeSteps Financial Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $6,940,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Bulwark Capital Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth $32,000. Westend Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 386.7% during the 2nd quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Newton One Investments LLC raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, Legend Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Microsoft in the second quarter valued at $69,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $650.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday. Loop Capital increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $625.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $675.00 to $700.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $682.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $634.67.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.5%

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $517.81 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $555.45. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $513.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $486.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 1.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.85 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.03.

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

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. 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. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.89%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $399,206,272.56. This represents a 15.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 39,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,624,012.52. This represents a 11.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.