Microsoft Corporation $MSFT is James Hambro & Partners LLP's 3rd Largest Position

James Hambro & Partners LLP boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 386,740 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 9,587 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 7.6% of James Hambro & Partners LLP's portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. James Hambro & Partners LLP's holdings in Microsoft were worth $192,285,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MSFT. Newton One Investments LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 66.7% in the 1st quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Bulwark Capital Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter worth $32,000. Westend Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 386.7% during the second quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the software giant's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on MSFT shares. Loop Capital increased their price target on Microsoft from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Raymond James Financial lifted their price target on Microsoft from $490.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Microsoft from $580.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $581.00 to $639.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $618.47.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 790,852 shares of the company's stock, valued at $399,206,272.56. The trade was a 15.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,624,012.52. This 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.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $514.05 on Tuesday. 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 capitalization of $3.82 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.03. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $555.45. The company has a fifty day moving average of $512.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $473.23.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released 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. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.15% and a return on equity of 32.44%. The business had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $73.79 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.95 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. This is an increase from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Microsoft's payout ratio is currently 24.34%.

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.

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