Albert D Mason Inc. Takes Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Albert D Mason Inc. purchased a new position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 527 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $262,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bulwark Capital Corp purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth $32,000. Westend Capital Management LLC grew its position 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 valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Newton One Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 66.7% in the first quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 29.9% during the 2nd quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 126 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $630.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Daiwa Capital Markets lowered their price target on Microsoft from $640.00 to $630.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 7th. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Microsoft from $682.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $675.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $633.59.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the 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 approximately $399,206,272.56. This represents a 15.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 38,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $518.64, for a total value of $19,967,640.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 461,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $239,402,668.08. This trade represents a 7.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Trading Up 1.4%

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $510.18 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.79 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.29, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.02. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $514.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $497.34. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly 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 net margin of 35.71% and a return on equity of 33.47%. The business had revenue of $77.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $75.49 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.30 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. Microsoft has set its Q2 2026 guidance at EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate 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 given a $0.91 dividend. 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.89%.

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.