Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Stock Holdings Decreased by AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc

Key Points

• AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc trimmed its Microsoft stake by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, selling 25,804 shares and leaving it with 1,385,946 shares valued at about $670.2 million. Microsoft remains its largest holding, making up 8.0% of the portfolio.
• Microsoft continues to draw support from institutional investors, with 71.13% of shares held by hedge funds and other institutions. Several firms recently added to their positions, even as a few reduced exposure.
• Analysts remain broadly positive on MSFT, with 39 Buy ratings and an average target price of $560.88. The stock also beat quarterly expectations, reporting EPS of $4.27 on revenue of $82.89 billion, while Microsoft announced a $0.91 quarterly dividend.

AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc cut its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,385,946 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 25,804 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 8.0% of AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc's investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc's holdings in Microsoft were worth $670,246,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. IRON Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 23.2% in the third quarter. IRON Financial LLC now owns 6,510 shares of the software giant's stock worth $3,372,000 after buying an additional 1,225 shares during the period. PMG Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the third quarter worth $828,000. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% in the third quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 70,175 shares of the software giant's stock worth $36,347,000 after buying an additional 1,572 shares during the period. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.0% in the third quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 949,901 shares of the software giant's stock worth $493,860,000 after buying an additional 9,700 shares during the period. Finally, Werba Rubin Papier Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 15.7% in the fourth quarter. Werba Rubin Papier Wealth Management now owns 12,492 shares of the software giant's stock worth $6,041,000 after buying an additional 1,698 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

More Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is reportedly deepening its AI strategy through talks with Anthropic over use of its Maia AI chips, which could expand demand for Microsoft’s custom silicon and strengthen its position in AI infrastructure. Anthropic in talks to use Microsoft's AI chips, The Information reports
• Positive Sentiment: OpenAI’s reported integration of ChatGPT into Microsoft PowerPoint highlights tighter product tie-ins that could boost adoption of Microsoft 365 Copilot and broader enterprise AI usage. ChatGPT Lands in Microsoft PowerPoint
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft and EY announced a $1 billion partnership to accelerate corporate AI adoption, reinforcing expectations that Microsoft can monetize AI across large enterprise customers. Microsoft and EY Team to Promote Corporate AI Adoption
• Positive Sentiment: Several articles and analyst notes framed MSFT as an undervalued momentum name with AI catalysts building, including RBC reiterating a buy rating, which may be supporting shares. Microsoft had its "buy" rating reaffirmed by Royal Bank Of Canada
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft is undergoing an internal AI-era leadership reset, including the planned departure of longtime executive Yusuf Mehdi, which signals strategic change but also adds some organizational uncertainty. Microsoft veteran executive Yusuf Mehdi is leaving after the next fiscal year
• Negative Sentiment: Some coverage focused on Microsoft’s GitHub outages and higher AI operating costs, raising questions about execution, infrastructure strain, and whether AI usage is becoming too expensive to scale smoothly. Microsoft's GitHub was positioned to win the AI coding race. Outages got in the way
• Negative Sentiment: The Gates Foundation’s sale of its remaining Microsoft stake was a headline overhang, though it appears more like portfolio rebalancing than a direct read on Microsoft’s fundamentals. The Gates Foundation Sold All of Its Remaining Microsoft Stock. Should Investors Be Worried?

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup raised their target price on Microsoft from $600.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Microsoft from $675.00 to $575.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Melius Research set a $430.00 target price on Microsoft in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $615.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, China Renaissance reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $630.00 to $550.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Thirty-nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $560.88.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.1%

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $418.57 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.11 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.91, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $356.28 and a 1-year high of $555.45. The stock's 50 day moving average is $399.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $437.48.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.06 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $82.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $81.44 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.94% and a net margin of 39.34%.Microsoft's revenue was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.46 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st 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 of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. Microsoft's payout ratio is presently 21.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total transaction 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 137,933 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $56,486,322.16. This trade represents a 8.20% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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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