Microsoft Corporation $MSFT is HS Management Partners LLC's 6th Largest Position

Key Points

• HS Management Partners LLC trimmed its Microsoft stake by 18.2% in the first quarter, but Microsoft still ranks as the fund’s 6th-largest holding at 5.8% of its portfolio, worth about $16.45 million.
• Microsoft’s recent business updates remain largely positive, including a push to sell AI tools as a lower-cost, more secure alternative, a strategic partnership with 3M tied to Azure data centers, and a $2.5 billion initiative to help customers deploy AI around their own data.
• The company continues to show solid fundamentals: it beat earnings and revenue expectations last quarter, and analysts remain broadly bullish with 41 Buy ratings and an average price target of about $557.96.

HS Management Partners LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 18.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 44,446 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 9,881 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 5.8% of HS Management Partners LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. HS Management Partners LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $16,453,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 51.3% during the 2nd quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Shepherd Kaplan Krochuk LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 4.9% in the third quarter. Shepherd Kaplan Krochuk LLC now owns 431 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $223,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Fischer Investment Strategies LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Fischer Investment Strategies LLC now owns 697 shares of the software giant's stock worth $337,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Pollock Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% during the third quarter. Pollock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,805 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,453,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Better Money Decisions LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Better Money Decisions LLC now owns 3,498 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,740,000 after buying an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is pushing sales teams to sell its AI offerings as a more secure and lower-cost alternative to OpenAI and Anthropic, highlighting its ability to monetize enterprise demand and defend its AI ecosystem. Microsoft Coaches Sales Staff to Challenge OpenAI and Anthropic on Costs and Security
• Positive Sentiment: 3M announced a strategic partnership with Microsoft tied to Azure data centers and enterprise transformation, which adds another validation point for Microsoft’s cloud and AI infrastructure strategy. 3M and Microsoft announce strategic partnership to advance AI data center infrastructure and enterprise transformation
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is overhauling its cybersecurity business to capture more spending from AI-driven threats, which could open a new growth lane as customers increase security budgets. Microsoft (MSFT) Overhauls Cybersecurity Business to Cash In on AI Threats
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft launched a $2.5 billion initiative to help large customers deploy AI systems around their own data and workflows, reinforcing its enterprise AI moat. How Microsoft (MSFT) Is Deepening Its Enterprise AI Moat With a $2.5 Billion Customer Deployment Initiative

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on MSFT. Scotiabank raised shares of Microsoft from an "outperform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on Microsoft from $595.00 to $680.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. New Street Research lowered their target price on shares of Microsoft from $675.00 to $600.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, China Renaissance lowered their price objective on Microsoft from $630.00 to $550.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 4th. Forty-one research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $557.96.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.99, for a total transaction of $7,145,345.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 110,477 shares of the company's stock, valued at $50,928,792.23. The trade was a 12.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.84, for a total transaction of $1,812,780.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 47,468 shares in the company, valued at $19,122,009.12. The trade was a 8.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 23,762 shares of company stock valued at $10,508,361. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT stock opened at $395.63 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $401.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $412.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The stock has a market cap of $2.94 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.13. Microsoft Corporation has a 52-week low of $349.20 and a 52-week high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.06 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $82.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $81.44 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.34% and a return on equity of 31.94%. Microsoft's revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.46 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 20th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. Microsoft's payout ratio is currently 21.67%.

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).

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