Swedbank AB Buys 222,988 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Swedbank AB boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.6% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 13,850,766 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 222,988 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 7.7% of Swedbank AB’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Swedbank AB’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $6,889,510,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Microsoft by 1.1% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 691,386,214 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $259,539,471,000 after purchasing an additional 7,314,509 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 168,128,024 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $70,720,874,000 after purchasing an additional 3,103,212 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth $44,343,058,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $35,316,535,000 after buying an additional 11,600,470 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 62,267,822 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $23,374,718,000 after buying an additional 2,306,485 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the company’s 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 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $504.78, for a total transaction of $75,315,699.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 790,852 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $399,206,272.56. This represents a 15.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on MSFT. TD Cowen lifted 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. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $650.00 target price (up previously from $600.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $650.00 price target (up from $600.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $612.54.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $507.03 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.77 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.04. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $512.01 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $461.15. 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) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.35 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $73.79 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.15% and a return on equity of 32.44%. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.95 earnings per share. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be given a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 24.34%.

Microsoft 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.