Barings LLC Has $5.08 Million Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Barings LLC increased its stake in Microsoft Corporation by 5.4% during the first quarter, now holding shares worth approximately $5.08 million.
• Microsoft's CEO, Satya Nadella, recently sold over 149,000 shares, resulting in a 15.87% decrease in his ownership, while insider ownership overall is at just 0.03% of the stock.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.83 per share, with an annualized yield of 0.7%, reflecting a payout ratio of 24.34%.

Barings LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 5.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 13,540 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 694 shares during the period. Barings LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $5,083,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Newton One Investments LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 66.7% in the first quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $44,000. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 50.0% in the first quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $62,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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 company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $504.78, for a total transaction of $75,315,699.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 790,852 shares of the company's stock, valued at $399,206,272.56. This 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 available through this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $527.32, for a total transaction of $2,557,502.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $495.00 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $555.45. The stock has a market cap of $3.68 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.04. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $509.93 and a 200-day moving average of $450.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 1.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 36.15% and a return on equity of 32.44%. The firm's revenue was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.95 EPS. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's payout ratio is currently 24.34%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $650.00 target price (up previously from $600.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. DA Davidson upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Raymond James Financial upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $490.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $525.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Microsoft from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $612.54.

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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