Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Sold by Alliancebernstein L.P.

Alliancebernstein L.P. lessened its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 8.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 36,347,176 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 3,446,297 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 4.9% of Alliancebernstein L.P.'s holdings, making the stock its largest holding. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned 0.49% of Microsoft worth $13,644,366,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Fosun International Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the first quarter. Fosun International Ltd now owns 6,633 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,490,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Gagnon Securities LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 3.5% during the first quarter. Gagnon Securities LLC now owns 704 shares of the software giant's stock worth $264,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Alliance Wealth Management Group increased its stake in Microsoft by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Alliance Wealth Management Group now owns 5,617 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,368,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Guidance Point Advisors LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Guidance Point Advisors LLC now owns 4,294 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,811,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Orin Green Financial LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 1.2% during the first quarter. Orin Green Financial LLC now owns 2,136 shares of the software giant's stock worth $767,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Microsoft from $515.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. DA Davidson raised their target price on Microsoft from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $650.00 target price (up previously from $600.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Scotiabank raised their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Wedbush raised their target price on Microsoft from $600.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $612.54.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of Microsoft 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 directly owned 39,111 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,624,012.52. This trade represents a 11.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of Microsoft 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 790,852 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $399,206,272.56. This trade represents a 15.87% 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 Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $509.90 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $555.45. 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 stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $510.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $453.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.79 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.38, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.04.

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

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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