Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Acquired by Davis Selected Advisers

Key Points

• Davis Selected Advisers increased its stake in Microsoft by 0.6%, acquiring an additional 1,532 shares, bringing its total holdings to 256,523 shares valued at approximately $96.3 million.
• Microsoft's recent earnings report beat analysts' expectations, with an EPS of $3.65 and revenue of $76.44 billion, reflecting an 18.1% year-over-year growth.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.83 per share, set to be paid on September 11th, which represents an annualized yield of 0.7% and a payout ratio of 24.34%.

Davis Selected Advisers lifted its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 0.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 256,523 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 1,532 shares during the period. Davis Selected Advisers' holdings in Microsoft were worth $96,296,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Newton One Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 66.7% in the first quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $44,000. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 50.0% in the first quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant's stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $62,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT traded up $3.20 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $498.20. 16,724,087 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,521,180. The company has a quick ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $509.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $451.72. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $555.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.70 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.04.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $73.79 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.95 EPS. Microsoft's quarterly revenue was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the subject of several analyst reports. Mizuho upped their target price on Microsoft from $540.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Citigroup raised their price objective on Microsoft from $605.00 to $613.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Wedbush raised their price objective on Microsoft from $600.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Microsoft from $550.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on Microsoft from $540.00 to $637.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $612.54.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 39,111 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,624,012.52. This trade represents a 11.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 790,852 shares in the company, valued at approximately $399,206,272.56. This represents a 15.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

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.