Ninety One SA PTY Ltd Has $46.82 Million Stock Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Ninety One SA PTY Ltd cut its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 94,194 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 385 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 7.7% of Ninety One SA PTY Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Ninety One SA PTY Ltd’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $46,821,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Newton One Investments LLC boosted 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 period. Bulwark Capital Corp bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. Westend Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 386.7% during the 2nd quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, IFS Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 50.0% during the 1st quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 39,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,624,012.52. This represents a 11.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Citigroup upped their target price on Microsoft from $605.00 to $613.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. TD Cowen upped their target price on Microsoft from $580.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $625.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, August 29th. DA Davidson upped their target price on Microsoft from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on Microsoft from $625.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $618.97.

Microsoft Price Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $513.58 on Monday. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $555.45. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $511.82 and a 200-day moving average of $477.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 1.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.82 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.03.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.35 by $0.30. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.44% and a net margin of 36.15%.The business had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $73.79 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.95 EPS. The business’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. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 24.34%.

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.