Versant Capital Management Inc Grows Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 46,268 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,429 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 3.5% of Versant Capital Management Inc’s holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Versant Capital Management Inc’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $23,014,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Birchbrook Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Birchbrook Inc. now owns 6,326 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,375,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Fosun International Ltd grew its holdings in Microsoft by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Fosun International Ltd now owns 6,633 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,490,000 after buying an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Gagnon Securities LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Gagnon Securities LLC now owns 704 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $264,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Alliance Wealth Management Group grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Alliance Wealth Management Group now owns 5,617 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,368,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Guidance Point Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Guidance Point Advisors LLC now owns 4,294 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,811,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Microsoft from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Microsoft from $600.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Loop Capital raised their target price on Microsoft from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on Microsoft from $585.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note 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 assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently 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 company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $527.32, for a total value 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $504.78, for a total value of $75,315,699.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 790,852 shares in the company, valued at approximately $399,206,272.56. This represents a 15.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.3%

MSFT opened at $508.45 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $511.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $457.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.78 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.28, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.04. 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 Corporation has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $555.45.

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

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 20th will be paid a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.