Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd. Sells 7,700 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd. reduced its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 37.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,900 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 7,700 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 3.3% of Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $6,417,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MSFT. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 691,386,214 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $259,539,471,000 after purchasing an additional 7,314,509 shares during the period. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 564,387.1% in the second quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 90,549,369 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $45,040,162,000 after buying an additional 90,533,328 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew 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 in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 62,267,822 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $23,374,718,000 after purchasing an additional 2,306,485 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 9.8% in 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 acquiring an additional 5,370,546 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was 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 owned 790,852 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $399,206,272.56. This trade 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 accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $527.32, for a total value of $2,557,502.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 39,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,624,012.52. The trade was a 11.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the subject of several research reports. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Microsoft from $515.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Microsoft from $550.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Microsoft from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Loop Capital lifted their target price on Microsoft from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $618.97.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $513.58 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $555.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company has a market capitalization of $3.82 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.03. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $511.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $476.28.

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

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 20th will be given a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 24.34%.

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.