Arista Wealth Management LLC Acquires 17,393 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Arista Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 286.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 23,455 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,393 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 1.6% of Arista Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Arista Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $11,667,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 691,386,214 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $259,539,471,000 after purchasing an additional 7,314,509 shares during the period. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 564,387.1% during the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 90,549,369 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $45,040,162,000 after purchasing an additional 90,533,328 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $35,316,535,000 after buying an additional 11,600,470 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 3.8% during the 1st 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 buying an additional 2,306,485 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 9.8% during 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 valued at $25,273,704,000 after buying an additional 5,370,546 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 38,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $518.64, for a total value of $19,967,640.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 461,597 shares in the company, valued at $239,402,668.08. This trade represents a 7.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 790,852 shares in the company, valued at approximately $399,206,272.56. The trade was a 15.87% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT opened at $510.18 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.79 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.02. 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 moving average price is $514.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $495.92. Microsoft Corporation has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.65 by $0.48. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.71% and a return on equity of 33.47%. The company had revenue of $77.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $75.49 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.30 EPS. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. Microsoft has set its Q2 2026 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.89%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on MSFT shares. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $625.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, August 29th. Rothschild & Co Redburn boosted their price target on Microsoft from $550.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Microsoft from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $633.59.

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.