Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd Purchases 13,483 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd increased its stake in Microsoft by 121.7% in Q1, owning a total of 24,563 shares now valued at approximately $9.2 million.
• Key institutional investors, such as Norges Bank and Vanguard Group Inc., have made significant investments in Microsoft, with overall institutional ownership comprising 71.13% of the stock.
• Microsoft recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.83 per share, with an annualized yield of 0.7%, reflecting a dividend payout ratio of 24.34%.

Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 121.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,563 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 13,483 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 4.9% of Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd's holdings, making the stock its 5th largest position. Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd's holdings in Microsoft were worth $9,221,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of 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. Strategic Financial Services Inc. increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 7.8% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Services Inc. now owns 17,426 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $7,345,000 after buying an additional 1,268 shares in the last quarter. Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 147.9% in the fourth quarter. Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. now owns 1,748 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $737,000 after buying an additional 1,043 shares in the last quarter. Intellus Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $16,075,000. Finally, Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 54,910 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $23,144,000 after buying an additional 2,014 shares in 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 news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 39,111 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,624,012.52. This represents a 11.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $504.78, for a total value of $75,315,699.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 790,852 shares in the company, valued at approximately $399,206,272.56. This trade represents a 15.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $650.00 price objective (up from $600.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $625.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, August 29th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Microsoft from $580.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on Microsoft from $540.00 to $637.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price target on Microsoft from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $612.54.

Microsoft Trading Down 2.6%

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 19,697,988. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company has a 50-day moving average of $509.93 and a 200 day moving average of $450.85. The company has a market cap of $3.68 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.04. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.35 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $76.44 billion during 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 quarterly revenue was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.95 EPS. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

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.