Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Purchased by Fisher Funds Management LTD

Fisher Funds Management LTD increased its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 13.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 643,203 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 74,329 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 5.9% of Fisher Funds Management LTD’s holdings, making the stock its largest position. Fisher Funds Management LTD’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $241,452,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 684,071,705 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $288,336,224,000 after buying an additional 10,431,988 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 168,128,024 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $70,720,874,000 after buying an additional 3,103,212 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth about $44,343,058,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $35,316,535,000 after buying an additional 11,600,470 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 59,961,337 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $25,273,704,000 after buying an additional 5,370,546 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $527.32, for a total transaction of $2,557,502.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 39,111 shares in the company, valued at $20,624,012.52. This represents a 11.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 8,850 shares of company stock worth $4,406,512. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on MSFT shares. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $525.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $581.00 to $639.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $612.54.

Microsoft Stock Down 1.4%

Microsoft stock opened at $509.77 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.79 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a quick ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Microsoft Corporation has a twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $555.45. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $504.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $442.37.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.35 by $0.30. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.15% and a return on equity of 32.44%. The firm had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $73.79 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.95 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.34%.

About Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation develops and supports software, services, devices and solutions worldwide. The Productivity and Business Processes segment offers office, exchange, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, office 365 Security and Compliance, Microsoft viva, and Microsoft 365 copilot; and office consumer services, such as Microsoft 365 consumer subscriptions, Office licensed on-premises, and other office services.