Nvest Financial LLC Has $5.93 Million Stake in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Nvest Financial LLC increased its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,926 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 277 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 3.1% of Nvest Financial LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Nvest Financial LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $5,932,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MSFT. Newton One Investments LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 66.7% during the 1st 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. Bulwark Capital Corp bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Westend Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 386.7% during the second quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 155.7% in the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 156 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $504.78, for a total value of $75,315,699.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 790,852 shares in the company, valued at $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 SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 38,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider directly owned 461,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $239,402,668.08. This trade represents a 7.70% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $503.29 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $513.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $495.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.74 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.80, a PEG 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. 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 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.65 by $0.48. The company had revenue of $77.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $75.49 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.71% and a return on equity of 33.47%. Microsoft’s revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.30 EPS. Microsoft has set its Q2 2026 guidance at EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 20th will be given a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. 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. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 25.89%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $625.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, August 29th. Raymond James Financial cut their target price on Microsoft from $630.00 to $600.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $675.00 to $700.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Arete boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $700.00 to $710.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $634.47.

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.