OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd Purchases 3,018,271 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd significantly increased its stake in Microsoft by purchasing 3,018,271 shares, raising its total to 3,452,059 shares, which now represents 6.1% of its investment portfolio.
• Microsoft's quarterly earnings revealed an EPS of $3.65, surpassing estimates by $0.30, and it reported a net revenue of $76.44 billion, marking an 18.1% increase year-over-year.
• Several hedge funds including Norges Bank and Vanguard Group Inc. have notably increased their holdings in Microsoft, indicating strong confidence from institutional investors.

OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd grew its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 695.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,452,059 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 3,018,271 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 6.1% of OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd's holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,295,868,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth about $44,343,058,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 40,290.4% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 46,695,303 shares of the software giant's stock worth $17,528,950,000 after purchasing an additional 46,579,693 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 34,643.3% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 16,837,278 shares of the software giant's stock worth $7,096,913,000 after purchasing an additional 16,788,816 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 16.1% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 684,071,705 shares of the software giant's stock worth $288,336,224,000 after purchasing an additional 10,431,988 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 39,111 shares in the company, valued at $20,624,012.52. This trade represents a 11.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.6%

MSFT opened at $506.69 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.77 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.06. The firm's 50 day moving average is $508.77 and its 200-day moving average is $447.33. Microsoft Corporation has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $555.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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 dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on MSFT. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Westpark Capital reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $650.00 price objective (up from $600.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. One investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average 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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