Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Sold by Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA

Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA cut its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,013,051 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 8,452 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 4.7% of Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $377,888,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MSFT. Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. now owns 62,365 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $23,264,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares during the period. Davis Capital Management raised its holdings in Microsoft by 7.7% during the 2nd quarter. Davis Capital Management now owns 7,428 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,771,000 after buying an additional 534 shares during the period. Vista Finance LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 4.6% during the second quarter. Vista Finance LLC now owns 1,043 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $389,000 after buying an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in Microsoft by 4.9% during the second quarter. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. now owns 67,661 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $25,239,000 after buying an additional 3,183 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.4% in the second quarter. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. now owns 18,689 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $6,971,000 after buying an additional 432 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $499.70 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 1.22. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $349.20 and a fifty-two week high of $553.72. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $447.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $416.63. The firm has a market cap of $3.71 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.82, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.11.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.50. The business had revenue of $90.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $87.62 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.98% and a net margin of 40.31%.The firm’s revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.65 EPS. Analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be paid a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 20.27%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the topic of several analyst reports. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $640.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $680.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Forty-two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $564.27.

Key Stories Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s Azure business reportedly crossed a significant revenue milestone, while its large backlog points to continued demand for cloud and AI services. This is strengthening the long-term bull case and fueling speculation that the stock could approach $600. Microsoft Stock Is Building a Trillion-Dollar AI Opportunity
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft and Nvidia are described as major beneficiaries of a potential $7 trillion AI infrastructure buildout. Rising data-center construction and demand for computing capacity could support sustained growth across Azure, software, and AI products. Nvidia, Microsoft at Center of $7 Trillion AI Boom
• Positive Sentiment: Investment commentary continues to favor Microsoft as a long-term holding because of its diversified software ecosystem, recurring revenue, cloud position, and favorable earnings outlook. Its latest reported quarter also showed revenue growth and earnings well above expectations. Why Microsoft Is a Top Stock for the Long-Term
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s partnerships and investments in Gulf data-center infrastructure highlight its efforts to expand global AI capacity. Separately, company representatives said AI could create new employment opportunities rather than only eliminate jobs, supporting broader adoption narratives. Microsoft and Schneider Electric Bet Big on the Gulf
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts are focused on a key cash-flow line item, likely reflecting the impact of elevated AI-related capital expenditures. Strong investment may expand future growth but could constrain free cash flow and delay a breakout to a new high. Microsoft Is Close to a New All-Time High
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft’s next-generation Xbox, Project Helix, could face a pricing challenge if advanced hardware pushes the console toward $1,000. A high price could limit adoption and pressure the gaming business, although Microsoft is considering affordability measures. Microsoft Has a $1,000 Problem With Its Next Xbox
• Negative Sentiment: Recent Outlook and Exchange Online outages, alongside a separate ChatGPT Work disruption, raise concerns about reliability for Microsoft’s productivity and cloud services. The incidents have not materially undermined reported results but remain a reputational and retention risk. Microsoft’s Outlook and OpenAI’s ChatGPT Work Both Broke the Same Day

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 86,525 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $501.46, for a total transaction of $43,388,826.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 486,763 shares in the company, valued at approximately $244,092,173.98. This trade represents a 15.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $487.89, for a total transaction of $4,878,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 100,447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $49,007,086.83. This represents a 9.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 105,835 shares of company stock valued at $52,468,575 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

About Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, Microsoft develops, licenses and supports a broad range of software products, services and devices for consumers, enterprises and governments worldwide. Its operations span personal computing, productivity software, cloud infrastructure, enterprise applications, developer tools and gaming.

Microsoft’s product portfolio includes the Windows operating system and the Microsoft 365 suite of productivity and collaboration tools (Office apps, Outlook, Teams).