Microsoft Corporation $MSFT is Westpac Banking Corp's Largest Position

Westpac Banking Corp lowered its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 6.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 232,323 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 16,761 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 6.4% of Westpac Banking Corp's holdings, making the stock its biggest holding. Westpac Banking Corp's holdings in Microsoft were worth $87,212,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Newton One Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 66.7% in the first quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $44,000. IFS Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 50.0% in the first quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $62,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of MSFT opened at $498.41 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.70 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.04. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $555.45. 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 company's 50-day simple moving average is $510.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $452.04.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $20,624,012.52. This represents a 11.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the company's 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 790,852 shares in the company, valued at $399,206,272.56. The trade was a 15.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. DA Davidson upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $605.00 to $613.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $612.54.

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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