Microsoft Corporation $MSFT is Generali Investments CEE investicni spolecnost a.s.'s 5th Largest Position

Key Points

• Generali Investments CEE has increased its stake in Microsoft by 5.7%, making it the firm's 5th largest position, with holdings valued at approximately $16 million.
• Microsoft's Q1 2026 earnings guidance suggests they will report a significant EPS, with analysts predicting 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year, following a reported $3.65 EPS that surpassed estimates.
• Recent analyst upgrades have raised target prices for Microsoft's stock, with Barclays and Piper Sandler setting targets as high as $650.00 and maintaining an "overweight" rating.

Generali Investments CEE investicni spolecnost a.s. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 5.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 42,633 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 2,287 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 1.5% of Generali Investments CEE investicni spolecnost a.s.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Generali Investments CEE investicni spolecnost a.s.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $16,004,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Microsoft by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 684,071,705 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $288,336,224,000 after purchasing an additional 10,431,988 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.9% during 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 position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $44,343,058,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 16.1% during 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 lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 9.8% during 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. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Microsoft stock traded up $2.99 during trading on Friday, reaching $507.23. The company had a trading volume of 24,300,741 shares, compared to its average volume of 22,487,876. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $555.45. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $506.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $444.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.77 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.06. 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 (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.35 by $0.30. The company 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%.Microsoft's revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.95 EPS. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Guggenheim reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Raymond James Financial increased their price target on Microsoft from $490.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Westpark Capital reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on Microsoft from $525.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $612.54.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 39,111 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,624,012.52. This trade represents a 11.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders sold 8,850 shares of company stock worth $4,406,512 over the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Microsoft 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.