OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd Lowers Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd reduced its Microsoft Corporation holdings by 3.0%, now owning 420,623 shares worth approximately $158.3 million.
• Multiple analysts have raised their price targets for Microsoft, with estimates now ranging from $550 to $675, indicating strong confidence in the stock's future performance.
• Microsoft recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.83, reflecting a 0.7% dividend yield, with a payout ratio of 24.34%.

OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd trimmed its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 3.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 420,623 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 13,165 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 4.4% of OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd's holdings in Microsoft were worth $158,329,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MSFT. Newton One Investments LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 66.7% during the first quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $44,000. IFS Advisors LLC lifted its position 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 during the period. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $62,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Raymond James Financial upped their price objective 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. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $530.00 to $582.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Microsoft from $580.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $612.54.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the company's 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 39,111 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,624,012.52. This represents a 11.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of 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. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $495.00 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $509.93 and a 200-day moving average of $450.60. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $555.45. 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 company has a market capitalization of $3.68 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.04.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 the consensus estimate of $73.79 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $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. On average, equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.

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