Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Sold by Jennison Associates LLC

Key Points

• Jennison Associates LLC trimmed its Microsoft position by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, selling 417,612 shares but still holding more than 21 million shares valued at about $10.18 billion. Microsoft remains its second-largest holding.
• Microsoft is still drawing strong institutional and analyst support: hedge funds own 71.13% of the company, and Wall Street’s consensus rating remains Moderate Buy with a price target of $560.88.
• The company reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with $4.27 EPS and $82.89 billion in revenue, while recent headlines have highlighted major AI and government catalysts, including a $9.7 billion Pentagon contract and optimism around Azure and Copilot growth.

Jennison Associates LLC decreased its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,051,290 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 417,612 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 6.1% of Jennison Associates LLC's holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Jennison Associates LLC owned 0.28% of Microsoft worth $10,180,825,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. WFA Asset Management Corp raised its holdings in Microsoft by 27.0% in the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant's stock worth $427,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the period. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. raised its holdings in Microsoft by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant's stock worth $5,658,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 410.4% in the 3rd quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 2,659 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,144,000 after purchasing an additional 2,138 shares during the period. Wealth Group Ltd. raised its holdings in Microsoft by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. now owns 2,374 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,000,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the period. Finally, Eagle Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 23,097 shares of the software giant's stock worth $9,735,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, 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 value of $5,045,695.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 137,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,486,322.16. This represents a 8.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total value of $519,111.08. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 46,003 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $18,922,874.02. This represents a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate 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: The biggest catalyst was a $9.7 billion Pentagon contract to consolidate Microsoft and other software licenses into one vehicle, which should streamline federal procurement and reinforce Microsoft’s government software footprint. Pentagon awards Microsoft $9.7 billion deal in bid to cut costs, end license sprawl
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple reports said HSBC sees Microsoft’s Anthropic partnership as potentially worth up to $43 billion in annual revenue by 2030, lifting optimism around Azure and Microsoft’s AI monetization path. Is Microsoft ditching OpenAI for Anthropic?
• Positive Sentiment: KeyBanc reiterated an Overweight rating, citing continued strength in Azure and Copilot, while other analyst notes argued Wall Street may be underestimating Microsoft’s AI revenue potential. KeyBanc Reiterates Overweight Rating on Microsoft (MSFT) on Azure and Copilot Growth
• Positive Sentiment: HP’s earnings beat, driven in part by the Windows 11 refresh cycle and AI PC demand, indirectly supports Microsoft by signaling healthy PC upgrade activity around its ecosystem. HP beats revenue, profit estimates as AI PC and Windows 11 refresh boost demand
• Neutral Sentiment: Several items were broadly supportive of Microsoft’s AI strategy, including partner integrations around Microsoft Marketplace, Microsoft Foundry, and Microsoft Dynamics 365, but these are more incremental ecosystem updates than major stock-moving events.
• Negative Sentiment: Some commentary focused on near-term concerns around Microsoft’s heavy AI infrastructure spending and rising compute costs, with a few pieces arguing the stock remains under pressure despite the earnings beat. Cost of Compute is Far Beyond the Costs of the Employees: Microsoft Stock NASDAQ: MSFT Slips as the Achilles Heel is Found
• Negative Sentiment: There were also reports that Dan Loeb’s Third Point exited Microsoft, which may add to investor caution even as longer-term AI enthusiasm remains intact. Billionaire Dan Loeb Cashed Out of Microsoft Stock. Shares Are Down 14.2% YTD.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on MSFT shares. Phillip Securities raised Microsoft to a "buy" rating and set a $485.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Bank of America started coverage on Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. They set a "buy" rating and a $500.00 target price for the company. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $575.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Barclays reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, DA Davidson reduced their target price on Microsoft from $650.00 to $550.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Thirty-nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $560.88.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $412.67 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.07 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.56, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.10. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $356.28 and a fifty-two week high of $555.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.28. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $400.37 and a 200 day moving average of $435.01.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.06 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $82.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $81.44 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.94% and a net margin of 39.34%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.46 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm 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 $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is presently 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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