Optas LLC Buys 2,167 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Optas LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 7.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 31,905 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,167 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 3.0% of Optas LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Optas LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $15,870,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bulwark Capital Corp bought a new position in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth about $32,000. Westend Capital Management LLC grew its holdings 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 grew its holdings 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 bought a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, Legend Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth about $69,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $75,315,699.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 790,852 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $399,206,272.56. This trade represents a 15.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the firm’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 transaction, 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $517.81 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.85 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.83, a PEG 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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $513.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $487.54. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 firm 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%. Microsoft’s revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.30 EPS. Microsoft has set its Q2 2026 guidance at EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business 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. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 25.89%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on MSFT. Stifel Nicolaus set a $640.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday. Cantor Fitzgerald set a $639.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Finally, Redburn Partners set a $560.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $634.67.

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.