Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Stake Cut by Global X Japan Co. Ltd.

Key Points

• Global X Japan Co. Ltd. reduced its stake in Microsoft by 6.6% during the second quarter, holding 84,856 shares valued at approximately $42.2 million.
• Several analysts raised their price targets for Microsoft, with the highest now set at $675.00, reflecting strong confidence in the company's future performance.
• Microsoft plans to increase its quarterly dividend from $0.83 to $0.91, with the ex-dividend date set for November 20th, indicating a commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Global X Japan Co. Ltd. decreased its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 6.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 84,856 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 6,043 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 4.3% of Global X Japan Co. Ltd.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Global X Japan Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $42,208,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 691,386,214 shares of the software giant's stock worth $259,539,471,000 after buying an additional 7,314,509 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew 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 worth $70,720,874,000 after buying an additional 3,103,212 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth approximately $44,343,058,000. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 564,387.1% during the second quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 90,549,369 shares of the software giant's stock worth $45,040,162,000 after buying an additional 90,533,328 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant's stock worth $35,316,535,000 after purchasing an additional 11,600,470 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $525.00 to $640.00 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 target price (up previously from $600.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, September 20th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $614.45.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 39,111 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,624,012.52. This represents a 11.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the firm'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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly 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 Price Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $511.46 on Monday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $512.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $463.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.80 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.04. Microsoft Corporation has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $555.45.

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

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 20th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. This is an increase from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 24.34%.

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.

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