Ninety One North America Inc. Sells 15,867 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Ninety One North America Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 7.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 184,550 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 15,867 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 4.7% of Ninety One North America Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest position. Ninety One North America Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $69,278,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Newton One Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 66.7% in the 1st quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Finally, IFS Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 50.0% during the first quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant's stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of Microsoft 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 39,111 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,624,012.52. The trade was a 11.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 8,850 shares of company stock worth $4,406,512. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.6%

MSFT stock opened at $507.23 on Friday. 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 $3.77 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.06. Microsoft Corporation has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $555.45. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $506.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $444.32.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $76.44 billion during 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 revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.95 EPS. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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 given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's payout ratio is currently 24.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on MSFT shares. Wedbush increased their price target on Microsoft from $600.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Raymond James Financial raised their target price on Microsoft from $490.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Microsoft from $585.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note 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 data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $612.54.

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.

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