Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Stock Holdings Boosted by Nicola Wealth Management LTD.

Key Points

• Nicola Wealth Management LTD. has increased its stake in Microsoft Corporation by 6.4%, now owning 73,560 shares valued at approximately $27.6 million, making it their third largest position.
• Multiple brokerages have raised their price targets for Microsoft, with Loop Capital setting a new target at $600 and BMO Capital Markets at $650, reflecting a strong positive outlook.
• Microsoft's CEO, Satya Nadella, sold 149,205 shares at an average price of $504.78, which decreased his stake by 15.87% to about $399 million after the sale.

Nicola Wealth Management LTD. increased its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 6.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 73,560 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 4,400 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 2.7% of Nicola Wealth Management LTD.'s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Nicola Wealth Management LTD.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $27,614,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of 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% during the 1st quarter. Fosun International Ltd now owns 6,633 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,490,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Gagnon Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Gagnon Securities LLC now owns 704 shares of the software giant's stock worth $264,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Alliance Wealth Management Group increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Alliance Wealth Management Group now owns 5,617 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,368,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Guidance Point Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Guidance Point Advisors LLC now owns 4,294 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,811,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Orin Green Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Orin Green Financial LLC now owns 2,136 shares of the software giant's stock worth $767,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MSFT. Loop Capital upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Raymond James Financial upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $490.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $581.00 to $639.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, KeyCorp raised shares of Microsoft from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $630.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $612.54.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the company'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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 790,852 shares in the company, valued at approximately $399,206,272.56. This represents a 15.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were 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 approximately $20,624,012.52. This trade represents a 11.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $515.36 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.83 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.04. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $510.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $455.45. 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 Corporation has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued 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%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.95 EPS. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be paid a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. This is a positive change from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is 24.34%.

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.

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.