Baillie Gifford & Co. Lowers Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Baillie Gifford & Co. reduced its stake in Microsoft Corporation by 4.7%, owning 7,021,856 shares valued at approximately $2.64 billion, making it the 13th largest position in its portfolio.
• Recent insider sales included CEO Satya Nadella selling 149,205 shares valued at $75.3 million and EVP Takeshi Numoto selling 4,850 shares, indicating significant transactions among company executives.
• Analyst price targets for Microsoft have been raised, with firms like Royal Bank Of Canada and Bank of America setting targets as high as $640, reflecting strong bullish sentiment towards the stock.

Baillie Gifford & Co. lessened its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 4.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,021,856 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 349,939 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 2.3% of Baillie Gifford & Co.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Baillie Gifford & Co. owned 0.09% of Microsoft worth $2,635,935,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 684,071,705 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $288,336,224,000 after buying an additional 10,431,988 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.9% in 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 period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,343,058,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 16.1% in 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 period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 59,961,337 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $25,273,704,000 after purchasing an additional 5,370,546 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Down 2.6%

Shares of MSFT stock traded down $12.97 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $495.00. 31,963,969 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 22,259,959. The stock's 50 day moving average is $509.95 and its 200-day moving average is $450.01. The company has a market cap of $3.68 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $555.45.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $3.35 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $73.79 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.44% and a net margin of 36.15%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.95 earnings per share. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. Analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is presently 24.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Microsoft from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Microsoft from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Citigroup boosted their price target on Microsoft from $605.00 to $613.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Raymond James Financial boosted their price target on Microsoft from $490.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Wedbush boosted their price target on Microsoft from $600.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $612.54.

Microsoft Company 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.