Premier Fund Managers Ltd Sells 480 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Premier Fund Managers Ltd cut its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 64,768 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 480 shares during the quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $24,533,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Newton One Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 66.7% in the 1st quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at $44,000. IFS Advisors LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 50.0% during the first quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at about $62,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $507.97 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.78 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.04. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $509.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $450.01. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $555.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 1.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.35 by $0.30. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.15% and a return on equity of 32.44%. The business had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $73.79 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.95 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on MSFT. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $605.00 to $613.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on Microsoft from $540.00 to $637.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $650.00 price objective (up from $600.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $612.54.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 39,111 shares in the company, valued at $20,624,012.52. The trade was a 11.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $504.78, for a total transaction of $75,315,699.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 790,852 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $399,206,272.56. The trade was a 15.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Profile

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.