Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Purchased by Ninety One SA Pty Ltd

Key Points

• Ninety One SA Pty Ltd boosted its Microsoft stake by 9.0% in the fourth quarter, adding 12,243 shares and bringing its total holding to 148,941 shares worth about $72.0 million.
• Microsoft reported strong quarterly results, with earnings of $4.27 per share versus $4.06 expected and revenue of $82.89 billion, up 18.3% year over year.
• Analysts remain broadly bullish, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $562.69, while the company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share.

Ninety One SA Pty Ltd increased its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 9.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 148,941 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 12,243 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 3.1% of Ninety One SA Pty Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Ninety One SA Pty Ltd's holdings in Microsoft were worth $72,031,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 51.3% in the 2nd quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $44,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the 3rd quarter valued at about $49,000. Finally, Daytona Street Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $50,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $415.00 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $396.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $445.39. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $356.28 and a 1-year high of $555.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The stock has a market cap of $3.08 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.10.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.06 by $0.21. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.34% and a return on equity of 31.94%. The business had revenue of $82.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $81.44 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.46 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st will be given a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.67%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $500.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 29th. President Capital increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $520.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. KeyCorp cut their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $630.00 to $600.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $525.00 price target (up from $450.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have given a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $562.69.

More Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft continues to draw bullish analyst commentary, with multiple firms raising or reaffirming price targets after the company’s strong earnings beat and Azure growth, reinforcing the view that core business momentum remains solid.
• Positive Sentiment: New reports suggest Microsoft’s AI ecosystem is still gaining traction, including partner milestones tied to Copilot and AI cloud services, which supports the case for continued enterprise adoption.
• Positive Sentiment: Several hedge funds and asset managers have recently added to Microsoft positions, indicating that some large investors still view MSFT as a long-term AI and cloud leader.
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft partnered with CAISI and AISI to advance AI model testing standards, a policy-and-safety focused update that may help its enterprise credibility but is unlikely to move the stock on its own.
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports that Microsoft is considering adjustments to its renewable-energy targets and offering voluntary retirement packages reflect ongoing cost and infrastructure pressures, but these items are more strategic than immediately material to revenue.
• Negative Sentiment: Market attention is centered on TCI’s reduced stake and the broader “AI anxiety” trade, with investors worried Microsoft may be spending heavily on AI infrastructure before the payoff becomes clearer.
• Negative Sentiment: Some commentary also points to temporary margin pressure from elevated AI and data-center spending, which could weigh on near-term profitability even as growth remains strong.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director John W. Stanton acquired 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $397.35 per share, with a total value of $1,986,750.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 83,905 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $33,339,651.75. This trade represents a 6.34% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 137,933 shares of the company's stock, valued at $56,486,322.16. The trade was 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.

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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