Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Stock Position Reduced by Seilern Investment Management Ltd

Key Points

• Seilern Investment Management cut its Microsoft stake by 19.9% in the third quarter, selling 22,895 shares. It retained 92,232 shares, valued at about $47.3 million, making Microsoft 5.9% of its portfolio.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive: Microsoft has a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $609.54, compared with a recent share price of $523.88.
• Microsoft beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, reporting $4.89 per share and $92.28 billion in revenue. The company also raised its quarterly dividend from $0.91 to $0.98 per share.

Seilern Investment Management Ltd lessened its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 19.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 92,232 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 22,895 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 5.9% of Seilern Investment Management Ltd's holdings, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Seilern Investment Management Ltd's holdings in Microsoft were worth $47,306,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter worth about $27,338,370,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the second quarter worth about $18,306,443,000. Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft during the second quarter valued at approximately $6,928,664,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new position in Microsoft during the second quarter valued at approximately $5,653,812,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new position in Microsoft during the second quarter valued at approximately $4,000,706,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Amy Hood sold 41,674 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 533,624 shares in the company, valued at $265,888,830.48. This trade represents a 7.24% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $531.00, for a total transaction of $2,655,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 54,412 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $28,892,772. This trade represents a 8.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 147,809 shares of company stock valued at $74,769,646 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Citizens Jmp boosted their price target on Microsoft from $550.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, October 29th. Raymond James Financial set a $650.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Microsoft from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Microsoft from $725.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. Finally, Benchmark restated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, July 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-six have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $609.54.

Latest Microsoft News

These are some of the MSFT news items that stood out recently:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft reported improving availability and said Outlook email queues were approaching normal levels, easing some immediate concern about the disruption. One analyst reiterated a Buy rating and a $630 price target, citing Azure growth of 48% and expected growth of 49%–50% in fiscal Q2. Microsoft outage recovery update Analyst Buy rating and price target
• Negative Sentiment: A prolonged global outage disrupted Outlook, Teams, Copilot and other services across more than 70 countries, affecting businesses and public agencies. Even as service recovered, the incident raised questions about Microsoft’s reliability and customers’ dependence on its cloud infrastructure. Inside Microsoft’s response to the global outage
• Negative Sentiment: Competition is also weighing on sentiment: Anthropic’s new workplace tools threaten Microsoft 365 and Copilot, while Microsoft’s substantial AI infrastructure spending raises questions about returns on investment. Competition concerns around Microsoft

Microsoft Stock Up 0.2%

NASDAQ MSFT traded up $0.88 during trading on Friday, reaching $523.88. 26,130,357 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 26,173,096. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $349.20 and a 1 year high of $559.15. The stock has a market cap of $3.89 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 1.22. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $519.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $441.85.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The software giant reported $4.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.72 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $92.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $90.62 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.28% and a net margin of 41.17%. The firm's revenue was up 18.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $4.13 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.91 EPS for the current fiscal 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 given a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 19th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. This is a boost from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. Microsoft's payout ratio is presently 19.00%.

Microsoft Profile

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company that develops software, cloud services, devices, and digital solutions for consumers, businesses, and public-sector organizations. Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, the company is headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Its products and services include the Windows operating system, Microsoft 365 productivity applications, Azure cloud computing, LinkedIn, GitHub, Surface devices, and Xbox gaming products and services. Microsoft also provides business software, cybersecurity tools, and artificial intelligence technologies.

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