Microsoft Corporation $MSFT is Guardian Partners Inc.’s 9th Largest Position

Guardian Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 4.1% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 71,634 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 2,824 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 2.2% of Guardian Partners Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Guardian Partners Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $26,586,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC boosted 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 valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Shepherd Kaplan Krochuk LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Shepherd Kaplan Krochuk LLC now owns 431 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $223,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Fischer Investment Strategies LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Fischer Investment Strategies LLC now owns 697 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $337,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Pollock Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Pollock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,805 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,453,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Better Money Decisions LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Better Money Decisions LLC now owns 3,498 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,740,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT opened at $496.88 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $409.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $407.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.69 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.11. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $349.20 and a 12-month high of $553.72.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $496.48, for a total transaction of $2,388,068.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 42,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,188,276.96. This trade represents a 10.13% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 37,310 shares of company stock valued at $17,256,219. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on MSFT shares. China Renaissance decreased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $630.00 to $550.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Arete Research raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $730.00 to $870.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $545.00 to $512.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane cut their target price on Microsoft from $556.00 to $555.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 1st. Forty-two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $560.27.

More Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Pershing Square’s Bill Ackman reaffirmed his bullish Azure thesis, arguing that continued capacity investment and Microsoft 365’s embedded customer base can support high-teens earnings growth. Microsoft Stock Rises as Ackman Reaffirms Azure Bet
• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan raised its Microsoft price target to $625, citing accelerating Copilot adoption and infrastructure growth. Wells Fargo also maintained an overweight rating and lifted its target to $700, reinforcing the view that the stock’s AI-driven recovery has further upside. JPMorgan Raises Microsoft Price Target
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft began gradually combining its consumer and enterprise Copilot applications into a unified AI platform. The planned “super app” could improve user adoption, cross-selling and Microsoft’s competitive position against ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude. Microsoft Unifies Consumer and Enterprise Copilot
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft accepted IREN’s first AI data-center deployment under a $9.7 billion cloud agreement. The milestone supports Azure’s ability to secure additional computing capacity as AI infrastructure demand remains strong. IREN Hands Microsoft Its First AI Cloud Deployment
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft is reportedly closing or restructuring numerous China offices and joint ventures, while retaining an Azure-linked presence. The move may reduce geopolitical exposure but could also limit access to the Chinese market. Microsoft Retreats in China
• Negative Sentiment: A report said Microsoft plans to cut carbon-removal purchases while AI-related emissions rise, creating potential reputational and environmental concerns. Microsoft Carbon Removal Purchases Report

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).