Swedbank AB Reduces Stake in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Swedbank AB reduced its stake in Microsoft Corporation by 3.3% in the first quarter, now holding approximately 13.6 million shares, valued at about $5.1 billion, which constitutes its largest investment at 6.8% of its portfolio.
• Insider trading was reported, with CEO Satya Nadella selling 149,205 shares at an average price of $504.78, representing a 15.87% decrease in his ownership.
• Microsoft announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.91 per share, up from $0.83, with a 0.7% dividend yield, and set its Q1 2026 guidance for earnings.

Swedbank AB cut its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 3.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,627,778 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 462,975 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 6.8% of Swedbank AB's investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Swedbank AB owned 0.18% of Microsoft worth $5,115,732,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Newton One Investments LLC increased its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth about $44,000. IFS Advisors LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 50.0% in the 1st 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. Finally, ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 155.7% in the 1st quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 156 shares of the software giant's stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $504.78, for a total value 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 approximately $399,206,272.56. The trade was a 15.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $509.04 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.78 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.32, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.04. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $511.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $455.82. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $555.45. 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 (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.35 by $0.30. The business 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 in the previous year, the business posted $2.95 EPS. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 20th will be paid a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. This is a positive change from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.34%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on MSFT shares. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $650.00 price target (up previously from $600.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Raymond James Financial lifted their price target on Microsoft from $490.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Wedbush lifted their target price on Microsoft from $600.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Microsoft from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on Microsoft from $585.00 to $640.00 and gave the company 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 assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock 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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