Magellan Asset Management Ltd Increases Stock Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Magellan Asset Management Ltd has increased its stake in Microsoft Corporation by 7.3%, now holding approximately 1.66 million shares, which accounts for 7.6% of its total holdings valued at about $625 million.
• CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of Microsoft at an average price of $504.78, reducing his ownership by 15.87% and leaving him with roughly 790,852 shares.
• Several analysts have raised their price targets for Microsoft, with Wedbush setting a new target of $625, indicating a positive outlook on the stock's performance.

Magellan Asset Management Ltd increased its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 7.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,664,891 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 112,722 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 7.6% of Magellan Asset Management Ltd's holdings, making the stock its largest holding. Magellan Asset Management Ltd's holdings in Microsoft were worth $624,983,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Microsoft by 1.1% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 691,386,214 shares of the software giant's stock worth $259,539,471,000 after acquiring an additional 7,314,509 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 168,128,024 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $70,720,874,000 after buying an additional 3,103,212 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $44,343,058,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Microsoft by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $35,316,535,000 after buying an additional 11,600,470 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 59,961,337 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $25,273,704,000 after buying an additional 5,370,546 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, 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 transaction of $75,315,699.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 790,852 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $399,206,272.56. This represents a 15.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 value of $2,557,502.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 39,111 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $498.20 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $555.45. The company has a market cap of $3.70 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.52, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.04. The company's 50-day moving average is $509.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $451.72.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.35 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $73.79 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.15% and a return on equity of 32.44%. The company's revenue was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.95 EPS. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on MSFT shares. Wedbush boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $605.00 to $613.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Microsoft from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. KeyCorp raised shares of Microsoft from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $630.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $530.00 to $582.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. One research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average 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.

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