Freemont Management S.A. Purchases 8,500 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Freemont Management S.A. increased its stake in Microsoft Corporation by 47.8%, owning 26,300 shares valued at approximately $9.87 million, making it the firm's 5th largest holding.
• Microsoft's quarterly earnings surpassed projections, reporting $3.65 earnings per share, which exceeded the expected $3.35 by 30 cents, driven by revenue of $76.44 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.83, with an ex-dividend date of August 21st, representing a annualized dividend yield of 0.7%.

Freemont Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 47.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 26,300 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 8,500 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 3.2% of Freemont Management S.A.'s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Freemont Management S.A.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $9,873,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Newton One Investments LLC raised its holdings 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 valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $44,000. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $62,000. Finally, IFS Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 790,852 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $399,206,272.56. This trade represents a 15.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 39,111 shares in the company, valued at $20,624,012.52. The trade was 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.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on MSFT shares. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Microsoft from $580.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. Raymond James Financial boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $490.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $625.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, August 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $550.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $612.54.

Microsoft Stock Down 2.6%

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT traded down $12.97 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $495.00. The company had a trading volume of 31,963,969 shares, compared to its average volume of 22,259,959. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $555.45. The firm's 50 day moving average is $509.95 and its 200-day moving average is $450.01. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $3.68 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.04.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

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.