Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Bought by Korea Investment CORP

Key Points

• Korea Investment CORP increased its stake in Microsoft by 0.8% in Q1, owning approximately 5.0% of the company, which makes it the fund's third-largest holding, valued at over $2 billion.
• Analysts have raised price targets for Microsoft stock, with increased objectives from firms like Scotiabank and Mizuho, now reaching highs of up to $650.00.
• Microsoft reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings, with an EPS of $3.65 and revenue of $76.44 billion, demonstrating a significant year-over-year revenue increase of 18.1%.

Korea Investment CORP grew its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 0.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,492,733 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 43,336 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 5.0% of Korea Investment CORP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Korea Investment CORP owned about 0.07% of Microsoft worth $2,061,917,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in MSFT. Cladis Investment Advisory LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 6.6% during the first quarter. Cladis Investment Advisory LLC now owns 10,887 shares of the software giant's stock worth $4,087,000 after buying an additional 672 shares in the last quarter. Muhlenkamp & Co. Inc. boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Muhlenkamp & Co. Inc. now owns 32,241 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $12,103,000 after acquiring an additional 203 shares in the last quarter. Sand Hill Global Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Sand Hill Global Advisors LLC now owns 66,503 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $24,965,000 after acquiring an additional 1,543 shares in the last quarter. RW Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 1.2% in the first quarter. RW Investment Management LLC now owns 10,881 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $4,085,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the period. Finally, Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 11.1% in the first quarter. Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC now owns 48,074 shares of the software giant's stock worth $18,046,000 after purchasing an additional 4,803 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, 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 transaction of $75,315,699.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 790,852 shares in the company, valued at approximately $399,206,272.56. The trade was a 15.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the firm'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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 39,111 shares in the company, valued at $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. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 1.8%

MSFT traded up $8.89 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $509.90. The stock had a trading volume of 23,610,304 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,166,356. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $510.55 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $453.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.79 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.04. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week 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.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 business 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%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.95 earnings per share. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $550.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $650.00 price objective (up from $600.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $605.00 to $613.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $650.00 price target (up from $600.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus 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.