Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Stock Position Decreased by China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Key Points

• China Universal Asset Management trimmed its Microsoft stake by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, though it still held 144,458 shares valued at about $69.9 million. Microsoft remains its second-largest holding and makes up roughly 5.4% of the portfolio.
• Several Microsoft executives also sold shares recently, including Amy Coleman and Kathleen T. Hogan, while institutional investors continue to own a large majority of the company. Insider ownership is very small at just 0.03%.
• Microsoft is still getting support from analysts and AI-related commentary, with Wedbush calling its restructured OpenAI partnership a net positive. The stock also posted solid quarterly results, beating earnings and revenue estimates, and the company declared a $0.91 quarterly dividend.

China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lowered its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 144,458 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 1,615 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 5.4% of China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd.'s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $69,863,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Directional Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $474,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its position in Microsoft by 115.3% during the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 14,212 shares of the software giant's stock worth $6,873,000 after acquiring an additional 7,610 shares during the last quarter. TKG Advisors LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. TKG Advisors LLC now owns 1,638 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $792,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. Davis Rea LTD. raised its holdings in Microsoft by 12.4% in the 4th quarter. Davis Rea LTD. now owns 44,294 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $21,421,000 after acquiring an additional 4,892 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 15.4% in the 4th quarter. Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC now owns 10,034 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $4,853,000 after acquiring an additional 1,342 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 46,003 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,922,874.02. The trade was a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total transaction of $5,045,695.92. Following the completion of the sale, 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

More Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Wedbush said Microsoft’s restructured OpenAI partnership looks like a net positive rather than a setback, reinforcing the view that MSFT remains a key beneficiary of enterprise AI adoption. Wedbush Views Microsoft (MSFT)’s Restructured OpenAI Partnership As Net Positive Rather Than Strategic Failure
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is still being framed as a leading AI and cloud winner, with commentary highlighting Azure growth, Copilot demand, and broader enterprise AI spending as long-term drivers. Wedbush Views Microsoft (MSFT)’s Restructured OpenAI Partnership As Net Positive Rather Than Strategic Failure
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is also attracting investor attention as a preferred AI holding, with one high-profile investor reportedly rotating out of Alphabet and into MSFT, which can be seen as a vote of confidence in the stock’s AI positioning. This Famous Investor Just Sold All Of His Alphabet Stock and Loaded Up On Microsoft Stock. Should You?
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft announced a large purchase of 650,000 metric tons of carbon removal credits, suggesting continued investment in sustainability initiatives that may support its long-term corporate image and compliance goals. Microsoft's carbon removal plans aren't dead after all
• Neutral Sentiment: Some market commentary suggests Microsoft may be undervalued after a recent pullback, but that view is still debated and depends on whether AI spending translates into sustained earnings growth. Why Bill Ackman Thinks the Selloff in Microsoft Stock Is Misguided
• Negative Sentiment: The UK Competition and Markets Authority opened a probe into Microsoft’s software practices, creating a regulatory overhang that could pressure sentiment if scrutiny expands. UK CMA Opens Probe Into Microsoft (MSFT) Software Practices
• Negative Sentiment: GitHub, which is owned by Microsoft, confirmed a security incident involving stolen internal repositories, adding a cybersecurity headline that could weigh on the stock near term. GitHub confirms 3,800 internal repos stolen through poisoned VS Code extension as supply chain worm hits Microsoft's Python SDK

Microsoft Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $421.06 on Thursday. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $356.28 and a fifty-two week high of $555.45. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $398.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $438.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.13 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.28.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be issued 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 yield of 0.9%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.67%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on MSFT. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $540.00 to $500.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. New Street Research dropped their target price on Microsoft from $675.00 to $600.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 30th. UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, April 24th. TD Cowen raised shares of Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Tigress Financial upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $595.00 to $680.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Thirty-nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $560.88.

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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