Exane Asset Management Has $3.51 Million Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Exane Asset Management reduced its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 51.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,049 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 7,605 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 1.5% of Exane Asset Management's portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Exane Asset Management's holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,506,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Scott & Selber Inc. grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Scott & Selber Inc. now owns 47,798 shares of the software giant's stock worth $23,775,000 after buying an additional 235 shares during the period. Genesis Private Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Genesis Private Wealth LLC now owns 6,431 shares of the software giant's stock worth $3,199,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the period. Global Trust Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 19.6% during the 2nd quarter. Global Trust Asset Management LLC now owns 15,213 shares of the software giant's stock worth $7,566,000 after buying an additional 2,489 shares during the period. Independence Bank of Kentucky grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 71,947 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $35,787,000 after purchasing an additional 516 shares during the period. Finally, Walker Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Walker Asset Management LLC now owns 12,067 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $6,002,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 790,852 shares in the company, 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 at this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $527.32, for a total value of $2,557,502.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 39,111 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,624,012.52. This trade 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.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $513.43 on Thursday. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month high of $555.45. The stock has a market cap of $3.82 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.03. 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 business's 50 day moving average is $512.18 and its 200-day moving average is $473.79.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share (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 analysts' expectations of $73.79 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.95 EPS. The business's revenue was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. This is an increase from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.34%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $600.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $580.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $515.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $618.47.

Microsoft Company 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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