Waterfront Wealth Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Waterfront Wealth Inc. increased its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 9.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 16,664 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,428 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 1.1% of Waterfront Wealth Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 16th largest position. Waterfront Wealth Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $6,169,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Yukon Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. Yukon Wealth Management Inc. now owns 4,840 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,792,000 after purchasing an additional 258 shares in the last quarter. Mason & Associates Inc grew its holdings in Microsoft by 14.2% during the 1st quarter. Mason & Associates Inc now owns 17,444 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $6,262,000 after buying an additional 2,163 shares in the last quarter. Peterson Wealth Services increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 4.7% during the first quarter. Peterson Wealth Services now owns 17,284 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $6,398,000 after buying an additional 778 shares during the period. Financial Freedom LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.2% during the first quarter. Financial Freedom LLC now owns 5,411 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,003,000 after buying an additional 117 shares during the period. Finally, SkyOak Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 17.5% in the first quarter. SkyOak Wealth LLC now owns 16,205 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,999,000 after buying an additional 2,418 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Argus lowered their target price on shares of Microsoft from $620.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 10th. HSBC cut their price target on shares of Microsoft from $593.00 to $571.00 in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $646.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday. Finally, TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $540.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, June 4th. Forty-two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $555.40.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.84, for a total transaction of $1,812,780.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 47,468 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,122,009.12. This represents a 8.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total value of $519,111.08. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly 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. Insiders have sold 23,762 shares of company stock worth $10,508,361 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft News Roundup

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

Microsoft Trading Down 2.2%

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $381.58 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.27. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $349.20 and a 1 year high of $555.45. The firm has a market cap of $2.83 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.71, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $399.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $408.26.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.06 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $82.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $81.44 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.34% and a return on equity of 31.94%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.46 EPS. Analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

About Microsoft

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).