Yacktman Asset Management LP Sells 13,527 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Yacktman Asset Management LP cut its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,203,480 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 13,527 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 5.9% of Yacktman Asset Management LP's portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Yacktman Asset Management LP's holdings in Microsoft were worth $451,774,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Fosun International Ltd lifted its stake in Microsoft by 0.3% during the first quarter. Fosun International Ltd now owns 6,633 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,490,000 after buying an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Alliance Wealth Management Group lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Alliance Wealth Management Group now owns 5,617 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,368,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Guidance Point Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Guidance Point Advisors LLC now owns 4,294 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,811,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Life Planning Partners Inc lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Life Planning Partners Inc now owns 540 shares of the software giant's stock worth $228,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Core Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 1,856 shares of the software giant's stock worth $782,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 39,111 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,624,012.52. This represents a 11.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 8,850 shares of company stock valued at $4,406,512 over the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $504.26 on Tuesday. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month 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. The business's 50 day moving average is $506.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $445.18. The company has a market cap of $3.75 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.06.

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. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.44% and a net margin of 36.15%.The company had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $73.79 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.95 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. Equities analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 24.34%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Citigroup increased their price objective on Microsoft from $605.00 to $613.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Bank of America increased their price objective on Microsoft from $585.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price objective on Microsoft from $581.00 to $639.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Microsoft from $515.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Microsoft from $600.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. One 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.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $612.54.

Microsoft Company Profile

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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