Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Purchased by Gradient Capital Advisors LLC

Gradient Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,413 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 227 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 2.1% of Gradient Capital Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Gradient Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $7,169,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Newton One Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 66.7% during the first quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Bulwark Capital Corp acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter worth about $32,000. Westend Capital Management LLC boosted its position 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 period. Finally, LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $44,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on MSFT shares. KeyCorp raised Microsoft from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $630.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Microsoft from $600.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Arete upped their target price on Microsoft from $700.00 to $710.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on Microsoft from $540.00 to $637.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $618.47.

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $510.96 on Monday. 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 stock’s 50 day moving average price is $513.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $472.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.80 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.03. 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 data on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.35 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $73.79 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.44% and a net margin of 36.15%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.95 earnings per share. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be paid a $0.91 dividend. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.34%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $399,206,272.56. This trade represents a 15.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $527.32, for a total value of $2,557,502.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 39,111 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,624,012.52. This trade represents a 11.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.