Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Bought by Everest Financial Group LLC

Everest Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 12.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 78,266 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,583 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 4.8% of Everest Financial Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Everest Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $28,972,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC boosted its stake 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 buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Shepherd Kaplan Krochuk LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 4.9% during the third quarter. Shepherd Kaplan Krochuk LLC now owns 431 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $223,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Fischer Investment Strategies LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Fischer Investment Strategies LLC now owns 697 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $337,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Pollock Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 0.8% in the third quarter. Pollock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,805 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,453,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Better Money Decisions LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Better Money Decisions LLC now owns 3,498 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,740,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines 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 Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $503.81 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.74 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.11. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $349.20 and a 1-year high of $553.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $407.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $407.37.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share (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 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 business earned $3.65 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors 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 dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.27%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $50,928,792.23. This trade represents a 12.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $18,922,874.02. This represents a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 38,572 shares of company stock valued at $17,775,330. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on MSFT shares. China Renaissance cut their price objective on Microsoft from $630.00 to $550.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Microsoft from $540.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Microsoft from $625.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $575.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Raymond James Financial lowered Microsoft from a “market perform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Forty-two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $559.16.

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).