Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Stake Trimmed by China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd.

China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lessened its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 14.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 140,995 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 23,093 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 6.6% of China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $70,132,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. AlphaQuest LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 5.9% in the second quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 342 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $170,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. PMV Capital Advisers LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 5.9% during the second quarter. PMV Capital Advisers LLC now owns 359 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $178,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Seek First Inc. lifted its stake in Microsoft by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Seek First Inc. now owns 1,358 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $675,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Level Financial Advisors boosted its position in Microsoft by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Level Financial Advisors now owns 2,680 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,333,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, Red Mountain Financial LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Red Mountain Financial LLC now owns 2,761 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,373,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 790,852 shares in the company, valued at $399,206,272.56. This trade represents a 15.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 38,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $518.64, for a total transaction of $19,967,640.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 461,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $239,402,668.08. This represents a 7.70% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on MSFT shares. Raymond James Financial decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $630.00 to $600.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 30th. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Microsoft from $640.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, November 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $634.33.

Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT opened at $486.74 on Tuesday. 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 company has a market cap of $3.62 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.02. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $509.39 and a 200-day moving average of $500.83. Microsoft Corporation has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.65 by $0.48. The firm had revenue of $77.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $75.49 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.47% and a net margin of 35.71%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.30 EPS. Microsoft has set its Q2 2026 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 25.89%.

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.