Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Position Lifted by Asset Management One Co. Ltd.

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 3,301,779 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 61,543 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 5.1% of Asset Management One Co. Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Asset Management One Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,642,338,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MSFT. Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 5.4% during the 2nd quarter. Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. now owns 1,016,168 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $505,452,000 after buying an additional 52,157 shares in the last quarter. Manuka Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 11.0% in the second quarter. Manuka Financial LLC now owns 2,165 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,077,000 after acquiring an additional 214 shares in the last quarter. AlTi Global Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 5.8% in the second quarter. AlTi Global Inc. now owns 84,019 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $41,929,000 after acquiring an additional 4,623 shares during the period. Cardinal Point Capital Management ULC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 406.2% during the second quarter. Cardinal Point Capital Management ULC now owns 27,824 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $13,840,000 after purchasing an additional 22,327 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sharper & Granite LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 12.7% during the 2nd quarter. Sharper & Granite LLC now owns 2,124 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,043,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $650.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $625.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, August 29th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $650.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $637.00 to $645.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Arete boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $700.00 to $710.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $634.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 790,852 shares in the company, 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 filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 38,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $518.64, for a total transaction of $19,967,640.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 461,597 shares in the company, valued at approximately $239,402,668.08. This represents a 7.70% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.3%

MSFT opened at $472.12 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 1.35. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $512.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $499.28. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $555.45. The stock has a market cap of $3.51 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.02.

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

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.89%.

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.