Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Sold by Sarasin & Partners LLP

Key Points

• Sarasin & Partners LLP cut its Microsoft stake by 3.1% in the second quarter, selling 48,056 shares and retaining 1.52 million shares valued at approximately $566.6 million. Microsoft remains the fund’s third-largest holding and represents 6.6% of its portfolio.
• Microsoft reported strong quarterly results, with revenue rising 17.7% year over year to $90.01 billion and EPS of $4.74, exceeding analyst expectations. The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.91 per share, equivalent to a 0.8% annualized yield.
• Investor sentiment is supported by strong cloud and AI demand, but concerns remain over nearly $115.9 billion in annual capital spending, declining free cash flow, valuation sensitivity to interest rates, and additional selling by institutional investors and company insiders.

Sarasin & Partners LLP decreased its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,519,029 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 48,056 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 6.6% of Sarasin & Partners LLP's portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Sarasin & Partners LLP's holdings in Microsoft were worth $566,628,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 51.3% during the 2nd quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Shepherd Kaplan Krochuk LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Shepherd Kaplan Krochuk LLC now owns 431 shares of the software giant's stock worth $223,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Fischer Investment Strategies LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Fischer Investment Strategies LLC now owns 697 shares of the software giant's stock worth $337,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Pollock Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Better Money Decisions LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.6% in the second quarter. Better Money Decisions LLC now owns 3,498 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,740,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Key Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is reportedly preparing to launch its Maia 300 AI accelerator as soon as this fall and is discussing production with TSMC. Developing proprietary chips could reduce long-term reliance on Nvidia, improve supply-chain control, and support Microsoft’s expanding AI infrastructure. Microsoft’s Betting Big on Its Own AI Chips
• Positive Sentiment: Meta has reportedly become one of Microsoft’s largest Azure AI customers, spending hundreds of millions of dollars annually and consuming substantial computing capacity. The relationship reinforces evidence that enterprise demand is translating into Azure revenue. Meta Emerges as a Major Microsoft Azure AI Client
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft raised its quarterly dividend to $0.91 per share, while Azure revenue reportedly surpassed $100 billion. Analysts and financial commentators also highlighted a roughly $678 billion backlog and continued strong demand for cloud and AI services. Microsoft Raises Dividend as AI Capital Spending Hits Record Levels
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft approved the Horizon 1 Texas data-center project involving IREN, potentially expanding capacity available for AI workloads. The development is strategically relevant, although the near-term financial benefit to Microsoft remains unclear. Microsoft Accepts Horizon 1
• Negative Sentiment: Annual capital spending has climbed nearly 80% to about $115.9 billion, while free cash flow declined. Investors remain focused on whether AI revenue growth will generate adequate returns on this spending. Microsoft Spent $115.9 Billion on AI
• Negative Sentiment: TCI Management reportedly exited its Microsoft position and increased its Alphabet stake, adding a notable institutional-selling signal. Separately, commentary warned that Microsoft’s valuation depends on optimistic earnings forecasts, while higher bond yields could reduce the present value of future AI profits. TCI Exits Microsoft

Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT stock opened at $483.24 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The firm has a market cap of $3.59 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.11. The business has a 50 day moving average of $419.61 and a 200-day moving average of $409.30. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $349.20 and a 12-month high of $553.72.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.50. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.98% and a net margin of 40.31%.The business had revenue of $90.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $87.62 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.65 earnings per share. Microsoft's quarterly revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. Microsoft's payout ratio is presently 20.27%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $487.89, for a total value of $4,878,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 100,447 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $49,007,086.83. The trade was a 9.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $496.48, for a total transaction of $2,388,068.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 42,677 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $21,188,276.96. The trade was a 10.13% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 37,310 shares of company stock worth $17,256,219 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $575.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price objective on Microsoft from $502.00 to $522.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. UBS Group set a $525.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $660.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Forty-two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $560.27.

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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