Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Stake Boosted by Mirova US LLC

Mirova US LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 22.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,963,799 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 361,519 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 10.1% of Mirova US LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Mirova US LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $976,813,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake 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 valued at $259,539,471,000 after buying an additional 7,314,509 shares in the last quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 564,387.1% in the 2nd 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 position in Microsoft by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $35,316,535,000 after acquiring an additional 11,600,470 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 3.8% in the first 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 worth $23,374,718,000 after acquiring 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 Microsoft by 9.8% in the fourth 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.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Rothschild & Co Redburn upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. DZ Bank reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday. TD Cowen upped their price target on Microsoft from $640.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on Microsoft from $637.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald set a $639.00 price target on Microsoft in a research note on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $634.67.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 39,111 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,624,012.52. This trade represents a 11.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $504.78, for a total value 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 $399,206,272.56. This represents a 15.87% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Stock Down 2.9%

MSFT opened at $525.76 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 stock has a market capitalization of $3.91 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.03. The business has a 50 day moving average of $513.60 and a 200-day moving average of $485.93.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.65 by $0.48. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.71% and a return on equity of 33.47%. The firm had revenue of $77.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $75.49 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.30 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. Microsoft has set its Q2 2026 guidance at EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 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.