JLB & Associates Inc. Sells 4,574 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• JLB & Associates Inc. has reduced its stake in Microsoft Corporation by 7.0%, selling 4,574 shares and holding 61,137 shares post-sale, valued at approximately $30.4 million.
• Microsoft's CEO, Satya Nadella, sold 149,205 shares of the company for about $75.3 million, resulting in a 15.87% decrease in his ownership.
• Analysts have raised Microsoft's price targets, with estimations now ranging from $545.00 to $650.00, maintaining an overall rating of "Moderate Buy".

JLB & Associates Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 7.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 61,137 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 4,574 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 4.2% of JLB & Associates Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest position. JLB & Associates Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $30,410,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.4% in the first quarter. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 6,650 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,496,000 after buying an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Real Talk Capital LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 1.6% during the first quarter. Real Talk Capital LLC now owns 2,290 shares of the software giant's stock worth $860,000 after buying an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG increased its stake in Microsoft by 3.8% during the second quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 922,524 shares of the software giant's stock worth $457,119,000 after acquiring an additional 33,382 shares during the last quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 39.3% during the first quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC now owns 144,852 shares of the software giant's stock worth $54,376,000 after acquiring an additional 40,860 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Well Done LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 8.9% during the second quarter. Well Done LLC now owns 9,911 shares of the software giant's stock worth $4,930,000 after acquiring an additional 814 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted 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. DA Davidson lifted their price target on Microsoft from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Microsoft from $600.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Microsoft from $515.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on Microsoft from $625.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $618.97.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $513.58 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $555.45. The business's fifty day moving average price is $511.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $475.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 1.35. The stock has a market cap of $3.82 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.03.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $73.79 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.95 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 20th will be given a $0.91 dividend. This is an increase from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio 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.

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