Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Sold by J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG

Key Points

• J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG reduced its stake in Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 9.7%, now holding 644,698 shares valued at $242 million, representing its largest investment.
• Insider selling activity includes CEO Satya Nadella, who divested 149,205 shares at an average price of $504.78, decreasing his ownership by 15.87%.
• Microsoft reported a quarterly EPS of $3.65, exceeding estimates, with an annual revenue increase of 18.1% compared to the previous year.

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG cut its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 9.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 644,698 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 69,104 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 4.4% of J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG's investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG's holdings in Microsoft were worth $242,090,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. WFA Asset Management Corp raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 27.0% in the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $427,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $5,658,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 410.4% in the 3rd quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 2,659 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,144,000 after purchasing an additional 2,138 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. now owns 2,374 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,000,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tallon Kerry Patrick acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,375,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 39,111 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,624,012.52. This trade represents a 11.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Microsoft from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. 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. 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. Finally, 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. 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $612.54.

Microsoft Trading Down 2.6%

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $495.00 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $555.45. The stock has a market cap of $3.68 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.29, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.04. The business has a fifty day moving average of $509.93 and a 200-day moving average of $450.60. 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 released 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. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.44% and a net margin of 36.15%.The company had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $73.79 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.95 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. Equities analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current 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 issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Microsoft's payout ratio is presently 24.34%.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MSFT? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.