Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Sold by Bristlecone Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Bristlecone Advisors LLC has reduced its stake in Microsoft Corporation by 0.6%, now holding 328,304 shares valued at approximately $123.24 million, making it their largest position at 10.1% of total holdings.
• CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares for about $75.32 million, resulting in a 15.87% decrease in his ownership.
• Microsoft reported strong earnings of $3.65 EPS for the last quarter, beating estimates and showcasing a year-over-year revenue increase of 18.1%.

Bristlecone Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 0.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 328,304 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 2,125 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 10.1% of Bristlecone Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Bristlecone Advisors LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $123,242,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Fosun International Ltd lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the first quarter. Fosun International Ltd now owns 6,633 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,490,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Gagnon Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 3.5% in the first quarter. Gagnon Securities LLC now owns 704 shares of the software giant's stock worth $264,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Alliance Wealth Management Group lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Alliance Wealth Management Group now owns 5,617 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,368,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Guidance Point Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Guidance Point Advisors LLC now owns 4,294 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,811,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Orin Green Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.2% in the first quarter. Orin Green Financial LLC now owns 2,136 shares of the software giant's stock worth $767,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of Microsoft 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 790,852 shares of the company's stock, valued at $399,206,272.56. This trade represents a 15.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $527.32, for a total transaction of $2,557,502.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 39,111 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,624,012.52. This represents a 11.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock traded down $12.97 during trading on Friday, hitting $495.00. 31,963,969 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 19,697,988. Microsoft Corporation has a twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $555.45. The company has a market cap of $3.68 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.29, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.04. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $509.93 and its 200 day moving average price is $450.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.35 by $0.30. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.15% and a return on equity of 32.44%. The firm had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $73.79 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.95 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. Analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Loop Capital raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $605.00 to $613.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $637.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $580.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price 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.