Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Bought by Norway Savings Bank

Key Points

• Norway Savings Bank increased its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 4.2%, owning approximately 18,784 shares valued at $9,343,000 as of the latest reporting period.
• The software giant reported earnings of $3.65 per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations of $3.35 and showcasing an 18.1% revenue growth compared to the previous year.
• Microsoft recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share, a slight increase from the previous dividend of $0.83, with a payout ratio of 24.34%.

Norway Savings Bank lifted its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 4.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,784 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 754 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 4.8% of Norway Savings Bank's holdings, making the stock its biggest position. Norway Savings Bank's holdings in Microsoft were worth $9,343,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 691,386,214 shares of the software giant's stock worth $259,539,471,000 after acquiring an additional 7,314,509 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 168,128,024 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $70,720,874,000 after purchasing an additional 3,103,212 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,343,058,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Microsoft by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $35,316,535,000 after purchasing an additional 11,600,470 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 3.8% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 62,267,822 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $23,374,718,000 after purchasing an additional 2,306,485 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $510.02 on Thursday. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $555.45. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $511.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $456.20. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $3.79 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.39, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.04.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.35 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $73.79 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.15% and a return on equity of 32.44%. Microsoft's revenue was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.95 EPS. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be given a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. This is a positive change from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the firm'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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 790,852 shares in the company, valued at $399,206,272.56. This trade represents a 15.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 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 transaction of $2,557,502.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $530.00 to $582.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Piper Sandler upped their price target 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. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $637.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Raymond James Financial upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $490.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock 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.

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