James Hambro & Partners LLP Purchases 12,011 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• James Hambro & Partners LLP boosted its Microsoft stake by 12,011 shares (a 3.0% increase) to 418,899 shares, representing 7.2% of its portfolio and worth about $202.6 million.
• Microsoft beat quarterly estimates with $4.14 EPS (vs. $3.86) and $81.27 billion in revenue (up 16.7% year-over-year), and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.91 ($3.64 annualized, ~1.0% yield).
• Insider moves included Director John W. Stanton buying 5,000 shares at about $397.35 and EVP Kathleen T. Hogan selling 12,321 shares at about $409.52, while institutional investors own roughly 71.13% of Microsoft.

James Hambro & Partners LLP lifted its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 3.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 418,899 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 12,011 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 7.2% of James Hambro & Partners LLP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. James Hambro & Partners LLP's holdings in Microsoft were worth $202,594,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth $50,493,678,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft in the first quarter valued at $18,733,827,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 500.0% during the third quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 59,543,261 shares of the software giant's stock worth $30,840,432,000 after buying an additional 49,618,571 shares during the period. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 49,640.3% during the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 29,967,038 shares of the software giant's stock worth $14,905,904,000 after buying an additional 29,906,791 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Microsoft by 16.1% in 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director John W. Stanton purchased 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $397.35 per share, with a total value of $1,986,750.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 83,905 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $33,339,651.75. This represents a 6.34% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total transaction of $5,045,695.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 137,933 shares in the company, valued at $56,486,322.16. This represents a 8.20% 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.

Trending Headlines about Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Expanded marketing tie-up with Publicis strengthens Microsoft’s positioning in AI-driven advertising and marketing workflows, supporting revenue potential outside core cloud products. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is rolling out enterprise AI infrastructure and governance (Agent 365 launch partners like Reply), which helps convert enterprise demand for managed AI agents into repeatable revenue. This is a strategic enterprise sales lever for Azure and services. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: M12-backed RAAPID investment (healthcare AI) highlights Microsoft’s ecosystem play and could widen Azure/Microsoft Health adoption in a regulated vertical. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft’s large backlog / remaining performance obligations (RPO) — cited above $625B in coverage — gives revenue visibility that could offset short-term margin pressure from capex. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Upcoming April earnings release date (Q3 FY26) focuses investors on guidance and capex cadence — a scheduled catalyst that could swing sentiment either way. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Market concerns about sharply higher capital expenditures for AI infrastructure and faster-than-expected competition (Google/Anthropic) are pressuring margins and valuation multiples. Coverage highlights a “Copilot code red” overhaul and investor fear that AI buildout costs will persist. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Wave of senior departures raises execution and talent-retention concerns at a sensitive time for product rollouts. Investor nervousness on leadership stability amplifies sell-pressure. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Broader tech sell-off, geopolitical risk (Middle East) and headlines about developer/service disruptions (e.g., VeraCrypt account lock) are worsening sentiment and liquidity for big-cap tech stocks like MSFT. Read More. • Read More.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $373.07 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $393.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $459.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. Microsoft Corporation has a twelve month low of $355.67 and a twelve month high of $555.45. The stock has a market cap of $2.77 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.11.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The software giant reported $4.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.86 by $0.28. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.34% and a net margin of 39.04%.The company had revenue of $81.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $80.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.23 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be given a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.76%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $590.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $630.00 to $615.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 29th. DA Davidson reissued a "buy" rating and set a $650.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $640.00 to $620.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $588.97.

Microsoft Company Profile

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).

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