Banco Santander S.A. Grows Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Banco Santander S.A. increased its holdings in Microsoft Corporation by 9.5%, owning a total of 736,654 shares valued at approximately $276.5 million. This makes Microsoft the bank's fourth largest holding.
• CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of Microsoft stock, resulting in a 15.87% decrease in his position, while an executive vice president also sold a portion of their shares.
• Analysts have positive outlooks for Microsoft, with several firms increasing their target prices to around $650 and a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy".

Banco Santander S.A. raised its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 9.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 736,654 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 63,988 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 3.1% of Banco Santander S.A.'s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Banco Santander S.A.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $276,533,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Fosun International Ltd increased its position in Microsoft by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Fosun International Ltd now owns 6,633 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,490,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the period. Alliance Wealth Management Group increased its position in 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 during the period. Guidance Point Advisors LLC increased its position in 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 during the period. Orin Green Financial LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Orin Green Financial LLC now owns 2,136 shares of the software giant's stock worth $767,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Life Planning Partners Inc increased its position in Microsoft by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Life Planning Partners Inc now owns 540 shares of the software giant's stock worth $228,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the 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 transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 39,111 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,624,012.52. This represents a 11.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on MSFT shares. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $650.00 target price (up previously from $600.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Westpark Capital reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Evercore ISI boosted 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. Scotiabank upped their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, UBS Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $650.00 price target (up previously from $600.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $612.54.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT stock opened at $495.00 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $555.45. 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 $509.93 and its 200 day moving average price is $450.60. The firm has a market cap of $3.68 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.29, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.04.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $73.79 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.95 EPS. Microsoft's revenue was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

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