Bristlecone Advisors LLC Has $123.24 Million Stake in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Bristlecone Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 328,304 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 2,125 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 10.1% of Bristlecone Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its largest position. Bristlecone Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $123,242,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Microsoft by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 691,386,214 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $259,539,471,000 after purchasing an additional 7,314,509 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 168,128,024 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $70,720,874,000 after purchasing an additional 3,103,212 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at about $44,343,058,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Microsoft by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $35,316,535,000 after purchasing an additional 11,600,470 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in 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 valued at $25,273,704,000 after purchasing an additional 5,370,546 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 790,852 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $399,206,272.56. This represents a 15.87% 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, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the business’s 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 sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Stock Down 2.6%

MSFT stock opened at $495.00 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $555.45. The firm has a market cap of $3.68 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.04. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $509.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $450.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 EPS 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 business had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $73.79 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.95 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on MSFT. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $525.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $612.54.

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.