Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Acquired by Waterfront Wealth Inc.

Waterfront Wealth Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 9.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 16,664 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,428 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 1.1% of Waterfront Wealth Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Waterfront Wealth Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $6,169,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Taylor Securities Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth about $2,616,000. Werba Rubin Papier Wealth Management boosted its stake in Microsoft by 15.7% during the 4th quarter. Werba Rubin Papier Wealth Management now owns 12,492 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $6,041,000 after purchasing an additional 1,698 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 2,332.1% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 6,746,017 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,262,509,000 after purchasing an additional 6,468,645 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors increased its holdings in Microsoft by 22.1% during the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 272,424 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $131,750,000 after purchasing an additional 49,371 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Overbrook Management Corp raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Overbrook Management Corp now owns 87,535 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $42,334,000 after purchasing an additional 2,384 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Citizens Jmp began coverage on Microsoft in a research report on Monday, June 1st. They set an “outperform” rating and a $550.00 target price on the stock. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and set a $525.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $646.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday. BNP Paribas Exane cut their price target on shares of Microsoft from $556.00 to $555.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $415.00 to $400.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Forty-two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $555.40.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $381.58 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.83 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.28. Microsoft Corporation has a 52-week low of $349.20 and a 52-week high of $555.45. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $399.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $408.26.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.06 by $0.21. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.34% and a return on equity of 31.94%. The firm had revenue of $82.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $81.44 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.46 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.7 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 21.67%.

More Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft expanded its partnership with Databricks through the 2030s, deepening integrations across Azure, Microsoft 365, Teams and Copilot and reinforcing its cloud and AI ecosystem. Microsoft (MSFT) Expands Partnership with AI Firm Databricks
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft also deepened ties with AI startup Mistral, adding another strategic AI partner and broadening its footprint in regulated industries and Europe. Microsoft and Mistral expand strategic partnership
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft committed $60 million and Azure compute credits to the U.S. Department of Energy’s “Genesis Mission,” highlighting ongoing investment in AI-for-science initiatives and government relationships. Microsoft commits $60M to ‘Genesis Mission’
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst commentary remained constructive, with Truist reiterating a buy rating and a $575 price target, suggesting substantial upside if earnings and AI demand remain solid. Analyst note on Microsoft

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total transaction of $519,111.08. Following the transaction, the executive vice president 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.99, for a total value of $7,145,345.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 110,477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,928,792.23. This trade represents a 12.30% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 23,762 shares of company stock valued at $10,508,361 over the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Microsoft 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).