Ninety One North America Inc. Has $124.44 Million Stock Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Ninety One North America Inc. reduced its Microsoft stake by 6.0% in the fourth quarter, but still held 257,310 shares worth about $124.44 million. Microsoft remains its third-largest position and makes up 5.0% of the fund’s holdings.
• Microsoft’s latest earnings beat expectations, reporting $4.27 EPS versus the $4.06 consensus, while revenue rose 18.3% year over year to $82.89 billion. The company also posted strong profitability metrics, including a 31.94% return on equity.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share, payable June 11, and analysts remain generally bullish with a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average target price of $562.69. However, one major brokerage recently downgraded the stock to hold and some commentary points to near-term margin pressure from AI spending.

Ninety One North America Inc. cut its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 6.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 257,310 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 16,494 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 5.0% of Ninety One North America Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Ninety One North America Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $124,440,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at about $50,493,678,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 1st quarter valued at about $18,733,827,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 500.0% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 59,543,261 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $30,840,432,000 after acquiring an additional 49,618,571 shares during the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 49,640.3% in the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 29,967,038 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $14,905,904,000 after acquiring an additional 29,906,791 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $35,316,535,000 after acquiring an additional 11,600,470 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total transaction of $5,045,695.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 137,933 shares of the company's stock, valued at $56,486,322.16. This represents a 8.20% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director John W. Stanton purchased 5,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $397.35 per share, with a total value of $1,986,750.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 83,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $33,339,651.75. The trade was a 6.34% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $415.00 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.28. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $396.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $445.39. Microsoft Corporation has a 52-week low of $356.28 and a 52-week high of $555.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.08 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.10.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 the consensus estimate of $81.44 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.46 EPS. The business's revenue was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be given 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 is 21.67%.

Trending Headlines about Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft continues to draw bullish analyst commentary, with multiple firms raising or reaffirming price targets after the company’s strong earnings beat and Azure growth, reinforcing the view that core business momentum remains solid.
• Positive Sentiment: New reports suggest Microsoft’s AI ecosystem is still gaining traction, including partner milestones tied to Copilot and AI cloud services, which supports the case for continued enterprise adoption.
• Positive Sentiment: Several hedge funds and asset managers have recently added to Microsoft positions, indicating that some large investors still view MSFT as a long-term AI and cloud leader.
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft partnered with CAISI and AISI to advance AI model testing standards, a policy-and-safety focused update that may help its enterprise credibility but is unlikely to move the stock on its own.
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports that Microsoft is considering adjustments to its renewable-energy targets and offering voluntary retirement packages reflect ongoing cost and infrastructure pressures, but these items are more strategic than immediately material to revenue.
• Negative Sentiment: Market attention is centered on TCI’s reduced stake and the broader “AI anxiety” trade, with investors worried Microsoft may be spending heavily on AI infrastructure before the payoff becomes clearer.
• Negative Sentiment: Some commentary also points to temporary margin pressure from elevated AI and data-center spending, which could weigh on near-term profitability even as growth remains strong.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MSFT. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, May 4th. TD Cowen upgraded Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on Microsoft from $620.00 to $515.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Bank of America began coverage on Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $500.00 price objective for the company. Finally, DZ Bank reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have assigned a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $562.69.

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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