Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Stock Holdings Cut by Jupiter Asset Management Ltd.

Key Points

• Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. reduced its holdings in Microsoft Corporation by 2.3% during the first quarter, now owning 736,045 shares valued at approximately $276 million.
• CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of Microsoft stock, reducing his ownership by 15.87%, while the stock's recent performance shows a market cap of $3.68 trillion.
• Microsoft announced a quarterly dividend of $0.83 per share, with an ex-dividend date set for August 21st, reflecting a yield of 0.7%.

Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. lowered its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 2.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 736,045 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 17,384 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 2.6% of Jupiter Asset Management Ltd.'s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $276,304,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 1.4% during the first quarter. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 6,650 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,496,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 7.8% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Services Inc. now owns 17,426 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $7,345,000 after acquiring an additional 1,268 shares in the last quarter. Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 147.9% in the fourth quarter. Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. now owns 1,748 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $737,000 after acquiring an additional 1,043 shares in the last quarter. Intellus Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $16,075,000. Finally, Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 54,910 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $23,144,000 after acquiring an additional 2,014 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, 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 transaction of $75,315,699.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 790,852 shares of the company's stock, valued at $399,206,272.56. This trade represents a 15.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the firm's 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 39,111 shares of the company's stock, 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. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $495.00 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $555.45. The company 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 company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 1.35. The business's 50 day moving average price is $509.93 and its 200 day moving average price is $450.60.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its 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. The company had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $73.79 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.44% and a net margin of 36.15%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.95 earnings per share. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.34%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Microsoft from $600.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on Microsoft from $581.00 to $639.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $650.00 target price (up previously from $600.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus raised 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. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on Microsoft from $585.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. One 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 company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target 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.

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