Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Stock Holdings Lessened by ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd

Key Points

• ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd cut its Microsoft stake by 25.8% in the second quarter, selling 136,999 shares and retaining 394,726 shares valued at approximately $147.2 million.
• Microsoft remains heavily institutionally owned, with hedge funds and other institutions holding 71.13% of shares; insiders also sold $71.4 million worth of stock over the past 90 days under pre-arranged trading plans.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive, supported by strong Azure and AI demand, better-than-expected quarterly results, and a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating with an average price target of $571.18. Microsoft also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.98 per share.

ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd lessened its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 25.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 394,726 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 136,999 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 2.7% of ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd's holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest position. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd's holdings in Microsoft were worth $147,241,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Auto Owners Insurance Co grew its holdings in Microsoft by 56,160.8% in the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 60,116,384 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $29,073,486,000 after purchasing an additional 60,009,531 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 234.5% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 17,822,280 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $8,619,211,000 after buying an additional 12,493,786 shares in the last quarter. Amundi raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 30.8% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 41,675,076 shares of the software giant's stock worth $15,426,862,000 after buying an additional 9,814,598 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 64.3% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 24,264,779 shares of the software giant's stock worth $8,982,083,000 after buying an additional 9,493,778 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diamant Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 38,442.1% in the 1st quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,810,388 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,521,001,000 after buying an additional 6,792,718 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Amy Hood sold 41,674 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $498.27, for a total transaction of $20,764,903.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 533,624 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $265,888,830.48. This represents a 7.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 86,525 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $501.46, for a total transaction of $43,388,826.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 486,763 shares in the company, valued at approximately $244,092,173.98. This represents a 15.09% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 143,009 shares of company stock valued at $71,420,699. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Azure and AI demand remain the primary catalyst. Investor data and analyst commentary point to accelerating Azure demand, while Microsoft’s recent earnings showed its fastest cloud growth in four years. The improving demand is helping ease concerns that the company’s substantial AI infrastructure spending will not generate adequate returns. Ca$htag: MSFT Azure Cloud Drives Soaring Demand
• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo added Microsoft to its Q4 Tactical Ideas list and raised its price target to $725, citing Azure’s growth potential and the prospect of improved AI monetization through Copilot. The action adds to a series of bullish analyst revisions; one report noted that 52 analysts covering Microsoft currently have no sell ratings. With Azure as a Catalyst, Microsoft Is Positioned for Sustained Growth
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s OpenAI relationship provides potential additional value. Investors are increasingly focused on Microsoft’s stake and commercial partnership with OpenAI, particularly ahead of a possible OpenAI initial public offering that could provide a market reference for the investment. OpenAI’s Future IPO Keeps Me Buying Microsoft
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft introduced new real-time AI speech models for customer-service agents, multilingual assistants and voice interfaces. The products broaden Microsoft’s enterprise AI offering and could support additional cloud consumption and software revenue. Microsoft Targets Contact Center Market With Real-Time AI Voice Models
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors are awaiting Microsoft’s October 7 Surface and Windows event. New hardware or Windows updates could support the ecosystem, although the event has not yet produced a material earnings catalyst. Microsoft Stock Notches Up Ahead of the Surface Show
• Negative Sentiment: Risks include heavy AI capital spending, valuation concerns and broader market concentration. Critics argue that rising data-center capacity could pressure compute pricing and returns, while strategists warn that a market correction could disproportionately affect megacap technology stocks. Microsoft’s dividend remains affordable, but AI infrastructure spending and lease commitments could limit future dividend growth. Morgan Stanley Strategist Sees Market Drawdown Potential

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the subject of several recent research reports. KeyCorp restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, September 3rd. CLSA reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 30th. TD Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $540.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $440.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, September 21st. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 22nd. Forty-three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $571.18.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT stock opened at $517.53 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $490.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $430.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.84 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.82, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.10. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $349.20 and a one year 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 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.50. The company had revenue of $90.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $87.62 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.98% and a net margin of 40.31%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.65 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.62 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 19th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. This is an increase from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 20.27%.

Microsoft Company Profile

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company that develops software, cloud services, devices, gaming products and business solutions. Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, the company is best known for the Windows operating system and Microsoft Office productivity software. Microsoft is headquartered in Redmond, Washington, and serves consumers, businesses, governments and educational institutions worldwide.

Microsoft's productivity and business offerings include Microsoft 365 applications such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook, along with collaboration tools including Teams.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MSFT? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.