Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Purchased by Pacific Excel Wealth Advisors Inc.

Pacific Excel Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 300.5% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 11,842 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,885 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 1.7% of Pacific Excel Wealth Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Pacific Excel Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $4,417,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MSFT. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 51.3% during the 2nd quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Bernzott Capital Advisors purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Fairway Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 287.0% in the fourth quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Finally, LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth approximately $44,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $484.31 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.60 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 1.22. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $415.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $408.42. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $349.20 and a 12 month high of $553.72.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.50. The firm had revenue of $90.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $87.62 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.98% and a net margin of 40.31%.Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.65 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 20.27%.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $496.48, for a total transaction of $2,388,068.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 42,677 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,188,276.96. This trade represents a 10.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $487.89, for a total transaction of $4,878,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 100,447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $49,007,086.83. The trade was a 9.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 37,310 shares of company stock worth $17,256,219 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Barclays decreased their price target on Microsoft from $545.00 to $512.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 30th. CLSA restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Argus reduced their target price on shares of Microsoft from $620.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $575.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. 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 presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $560.27.

Key Stories Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley identified a bullish technical signal across several megacap technology stocks, including Microsoft, potentially supporting further gains as institutional positioning improves. A Bullish Signal Could Point to Gains Ahead for These Big Tech Stocks
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s roughly $678 billion Azure backlog gives investors greater visibility into future cloud and AI revenue, helping counter fears that hyperscalers may struggle to earn adequate returns on AI infrastructure spending. Microsoft Stock Rises as $678 Billion Backlog Supports AI Spending
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s internally developed AI chips are reported to deliver efficiency gains of up to 40% versus reliance on OpenAI-related infrastructure. Greater use of its own technology could improve capacity, margins and control over the AI stack. Microsoft’s Own AI Chips Are Driving Efficiency Gains
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and investors continue to highlight Azure’s more-than-$100 billion annual revenue milestone, accelerating Microsoft 365 Copilot adoption and Microsoft’s ability to monetize AI through its broad enterprise software base.
• Positive Sentiment: New Azure and Microsoft Marketplace integrations, including Dirac’s AI process-planning platform and other enterprise applications, reinforce demand for Microsoft’s cloud ecosystem. An investment manager also maintained exposure to Microsoft, while Altarock Partners increased its stake. Dirac Brings AI-Driven Process Planning to Microsoft Azure
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft is changing its AI data-center policy by reducing nondisclosure requirements and emphasizing community engagement. The approach may ease regulatory and local opposition, but could increase transparency and complicate facility expansion.
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned that heavy AI capital expenditures may outpace revenue and cash-flow returns. A separate comparison argued Oracle currently offers stronger AI backlog growth and valuation, potentially making Microsoft less attractive to some buyers.
• Negative Sentiment: Beijing is reportedly accelerating the replacement of Microsoft Windows in Chinese government systems, creating a geopolitical and regional-sales headwind. The departure of Microsoft AI’s chief marketing officer also introduces some execution uncertainty around consumer AI adoption.

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).