Mason & Associates Inc Raises Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Mason & Associates Inc grew its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 14.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 17,444 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,163 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 1.2% of Mason & Associates Inc’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest position. Mason & Associates Inc’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $6,262,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Microsoft by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 717,942,580 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $347,211,391,000 after purchasing an additional 15,955,898 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 306,150,608 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $148,060,557,000 after buying an additional 6,388,930 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 182,618,400 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $88,056,019,000 after buying an additional 1,911,142 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 121,220,561 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $58,624,690,000 after buying an additional 980,439 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $50,664,631,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT 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. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $399.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $408.26. The company has a market capitalization of $2.83 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.71, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.13. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $349.20 and a 1-year high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 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%. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.46 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be given a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 21.67%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. HSBC dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $593.00 to $571.00 in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Phillip Securities upgraded Microsoft to a “buy” rating and set a $485.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Raymond James Financial lowered shares of Microsoft from a “market perform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, July 6th. Forty-two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $555.40.

Microsoft News Summary

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.84, for a total value of $1,812,780.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 47,468 shares in the company, valued at $19,122,009.12. The trade was a 8.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.99, for a total transaction of $7,145,345.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 110,477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,928,792.23. This represents a 12.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 23,762 shares of company stock worth $10,508,361 in the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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).