Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC Has $50.21 Million Stake in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 4.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 133,755 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 6,958 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 1.2% of Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $50,210,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Microsoft Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $507.23 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $506.08 and a 200-day moving average of $444.11. The company has a market capitalization of $3.77 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.06. 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 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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 the consensus estimate 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.95 earnings per share. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is presently 24.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their target price on Microsoft from $581.00 to $639.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Raymond James Financial lifted their target price on Microsoft from $490.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, KeyCorp upgraded Microsoft from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $630.00 price objective for the company in a 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 assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $612.54.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 39,111 shares in the company, valued at $20,624,012.52. This 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. Insiders sold 8,850 shares of company stock valued at $4,406,512 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

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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