Everest Financial Group LLC Raises Stock Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Everest Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 12.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 78,266 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,583 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 4.8% of Everest Financial Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Everest Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $28,972,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 51.3% during the second quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Bernzott Capital Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. Fairway Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 287.0% during the 4th quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Finally, University of Illinois Foundation acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at about $50,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total value of $519,111.08. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 46,003 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,922,874.02. This represents a 2.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.99, for a total transaction of $7,145,345.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 110,477 shares in the company, valued at $50,928,792.23. This represents a 12.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 38,572 shares of company stock valued at $17,775,330. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Dbs Bank cut their price objective on Microsoft from $678.00 to $573.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. BNP Paribas Exane decreased their target price on Microsoft from $556.00 to $555.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, July 24th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price objective (up from $570.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Forty-two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $559.16.

Key Stories Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s latest earnings showed stronger-than-expected profitability and revenue, with Azure growth and Copilot adoption reinforcing the view that substantial AI investment is beginning to generate returns. Hedge funds and institutional investors continue to favor Microsoft over some other mega-cap technology names. Hedge Funds Favor Microsoft Over Meta
• Positive Sentiment: Bernstein raised its Microsoft price target to $660 and maintained an Outperform rating, arguing that Microsoft’s data-center expansion is measured, flexible, and supported by durable cloud demand. Other analysts also identified Azure growth, backlog, and institutional buying as potential catalysts for a year-end rally. Bernstein Raises Microsoft Target
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Microsoft may unveil its Maia 300 AI chip as early as September and secure production capacity for more than 300,000 units could reduce reliance on Nvidia processors, lower long-term AI costs, and support Microsoft’s cloud strategy. Microsoft Maia 300 Chip Report

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $503.81 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $407.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $407.37. Microsoft Corporation has a twelve month low of $349.20 and a twelve month high of $553.72. The company has a market cap of $3.74 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.05, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.50. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.98% and a net margin of 40.31%.The company had revenue of $90.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $87.62 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.65 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be paid a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.27%.

Microsoft Company Profile

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, Microsoft develops, licenses and supports a broad range of software products, services and devices for consumers, enterprises and governments worldwide. Its operations span personal computing, productivity software, cloud infrastructure, enterprise applications, developer tools and gaming.

Microsoft’s product portfolio includes the Windows operating system and the Microsoft 365 suite of productivity and collaboration tools (Office apps, Outlook, Teams).