Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Sold by Jennison Associates LLC

Key Points

• Jennison Associates LLC reduced its stake in Microsoft Corporation by 11.5%, owning 20,167,966 shares after selling 2,630,110 shares during the 1st quarter.
• Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively hold 71.13% of Microsoft's stock, indicating significant institutional interest in the company.
• Microsoft recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.83, representing a 0.7% dividend yield, to be paid on September 11th.

Jennison Associates LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 11.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 20,167,966 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 2,630,110 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 5.3% of Jennison Associates LLC's holdings, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Jennison Associates LLC owned about 0.27% of Microsoft worth $7,570,853,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. WFA Asset Management Corp lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 27.0% during the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant's stock worth $427,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $5,658,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 410.4% in the 3rd quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 2,659 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,144,000 after purchasing an additional 2,138 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. now owns 2,374 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,000,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tallon Kerry Patrick purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,375,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ MSFT traded down $2.95 on Monday, hitting $506.69. 20,949,937 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,296,634. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.35. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $508.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $447.85. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $555.45. The firm has a market cap of $3.77 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 previous 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. On average, research analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the business's 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 in the company, valued at approximately $20,624,012.52. The trade was a 11.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Microsoft from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Mizuho boosted their target price on Microsoft from $540.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Loop Capital boosted their target price on Microsoft from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on Microsoft from $525.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. One equities research 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 company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $612.54.

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.