Ninety One UK Ltd Decreases Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Ninety One UK Ltd reduced its Microsoft stake by 11.5% in the fourth quarter, selling 860,554 shares and leaving it with 6.59 million shares valued at about $3.19 billion.
• Despite the sale, Microsoft remains Ninety One’s largest holding, representing about 6.8% of the portfolio, while overall institutional ownership of Microsoft remains high at 71.13%.
• Microsoft’s latest results were strong, with earnings per share of $4.27 beating estimates and revenue rising 18.3% year over year to $82.89 billion, even as analysts remain mixed on near-term upside and AI-related spending pressure.

Ninety One UK Ltd cut its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 11.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,592,893 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 860,554 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 6.8% of Ninety One UK Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Ninety One UK Ltd owned 0.09% of Microsoft worth $3,188,455,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. BLVD Private Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. BLVD Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,169 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,641,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Magnolia Capital Management Ltd. increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Magnolia Capital Management Ltd. now owns 6,509 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $3,371,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. ARK & TLK Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. ARK & TLK Investments LLC now owns 1,935 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,002,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Rochester Wealth Strategies LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Rochester Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 700 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $363,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 51.3% during the 2nd quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting 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.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on 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 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. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director John W. Stanton bought 5,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $397.35 per share, with a total value of $1,986,750.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 83,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $33,339,651.75. This represents a 6.34% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.0%

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

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $82.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $81.44 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.46 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be issued a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.67%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the subject of several analyst reports. Mizuho dropped their target price on Microsoft from $620.00 to $515.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Scotiabank dropped their target price on Microsoft from $600.00 to $550.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, May 4th. Arete Research increased their target price on Microsoft from $730.00 to $870.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and set a $586.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, April 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus 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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