Microsoft Corporation $MSFT is Stonehage Fleming Financial Services Holdings Ltd’s 2nd Largest Position

Stonehage Fleming Financial Services Holdings Ltd lessened its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 613,532 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 16,427 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 8.9% of Stonehage Fleming Financial Services Holdings Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Stonehage Fleming Financial Services Holdings Ltd’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $305,177,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Newton One Investments LLC raised 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 valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Bulwark Capital Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter worth $32,000. Westend Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 386.7% in the second quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 155.7% during the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 156 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on MSFT. Rothschild & Co Redburn increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $560.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Microsoft from $650.00 to $625.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. HSBC lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $643.00 to $648.00 in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $640.00 target price on Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Guggenheim raised Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $586.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, October 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $634.59.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $527.32, for a total transaction of $2,557,502.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 39,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,624,012.52. This represents a 11.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $399,206,272.56. This represents a 15.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 192,555 shares of company stock valued at $97,840,842. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Down 2.0%

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $497.10 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $555.45. The firm has a market cap of $3.69 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a 50-day moving average of $514.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $490.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.65 by $0.48. The firm had revenue of $77.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $75.49 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.71% and a return on equity of 33.47%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.30 EPS. Microsoft has set its Q2 2026 guidance at EPS. On average, analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 20th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.89%.

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.