Microsoft Corporation $MSFT is Smith Salley Wealth Management’s 2nd Largest Position

Smith Salley Wealth Management boosted its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 237,331 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 2,350 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 5.7% of Smith Salley Wealth Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Smith Salley Wealth Management’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $114,778,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MSFT. WFA Asset Management Corp lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 27.0% in the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $427,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the period. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.3% in the second quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,658,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 410.4% in the third quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 2,659 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,144,000 after buying an additional 2,138 shares during the period. Wealth Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. now owns 2,374 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,000,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the period. Finally, Eagle Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 23,097 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $9,735,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $405.21 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.01 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $397.73 and a 200 day moving average of $442.33. Microsoft Corporation has a twelve month low of $356.28 and a twelve month high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.06 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $82.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $81.44 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.34% and a return on equity of 31.94%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.46 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st will be given a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.67%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total value of $5,045,695.92. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 137,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,486,322.16. The trade was a 8.20% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director John W. Stanton bought 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $397.35 per share, with a total value of $1,986,750.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 83,905 shares in the company, valued at $33,339,651.75. This trade represents a 6.34% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $615.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $586.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, April 30th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, March 9th. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $595.00 to $680.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Microsoft to a “buy” rating and set a $485.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday. Thirty-nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $560.88.

Microsoft News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Wedbush reaffirmed Microsoft as an outperform and kept a $575 price target, while Phillip Securities upgraded the stock to buy with a $485 target, underscoring Wall Street’s continued optimism about Microsoft’s long-term AI and cloud growth. Benzinga report
• Positive Sentiment: Several articles highlighted Microsoft as a top long-term or “battered” software stock, with some investors seeing the pullback as an opportunity to buy a dominant franchise at a more attractive valuation. 247WallSt article
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft is reportedly looking at startup acquisitions to reduce dependence on OpenAI, which could be a strategic positive over time but also signals that the current partnership is not viewed as fully secure. Reuters article
• Neutral Sentiment: LinkedIn plans to cut about 5% of its workforce as part of a restructuring, which may support margins but also reflects caution across Microsoft’s broader business. Reuters/Invezz article
• Negative Sentiment: Ongoing testimony in Elon Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAI is putting Microsoft’s role in OpenAI under a microscope, reviving concerns about governance, reliance on OpenAI, and possible legal or reputational overhang. CNBC article
• Negative Sentiment: Some investors are worried that Microsoft’s AI capex is rising faster than the market can justify, with articles warning that the company must prove a timely return on its AI investments to sustain the stock’s premium. Motley Fool article

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).