Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Increases Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Royal London Asset Management increased its Microsoft stake by 2.1% in the second quarter, adding 117,089 shares for a total holding worth approximately $2.16 billion. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of Microsoft.
• Microsoft reported quarterly EPS of $4.74 and revenue of $90.01 billion, exceeding analyst estimates, while revenue increased 17.7% year over year. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating with an average price target of $564.27.
• Company insiders sold roughly $50.7 million of Microsoft shares over the past 90 days, including substantial sales by CEO Satya Nadella and EVP Takeshi Numoto. Insiders own only 0.03% of the stock.

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,802,929 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 117,089 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 4.0% of Royal London Asset Management Ltd.'s holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. owned 0.08% of Microsoft worth $2,164,609,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 51.3% during the second quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Bernzott Capital Advisors bought a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Frankly Finances LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter valued at about $35,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Bard Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth about $37,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT stock opened at $491.65 on Thursday. 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 business has a 50-day simple moving average of $451.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $417.95. The company has a market capitalization of $3.65 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.11. Microsoft Corporation has a 52-week low of $349.20 and a 52-week high of $553.72.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.50. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.98% and a net margin of 40.31%.The firm had revenue of $90.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $87.62 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.65 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on MSFT shares. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. UBS Group set a $525.00 price target on Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $640.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $515.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Forty-two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $564.27.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $496.48, for a total value of $2,388,068.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 42,677 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $21,188,276.96. This represents a 10.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 86,525 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 486,763 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $244,092,173.98. The trade was 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 101,335 shares of company stock worth $50,655,795. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft disclosed that Azure has surpassed a $100 billion annualized revenue run rate and reorganized its reporting structure around AI agents and infrastructure. The disclosure improves visibility into the company’s fastest-growing business and reinforces the long-term AI investment case. Microsoft Breaks Out Azure Sales at $100 Billion Annualized Pace, Reorganizes AI Segments
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is supporting UpDoc’s team in an ARPA-H program developing autonomous clinical AI for cardiovascular care, alongside OpenAI and NVIDIA. The initiative offers potential strategic and reputational benefits in healthcare AI, although the immediate financial impact is likely limited. ARPA-H Selects UpDoc to Lead Development of Autonomous Clinical AI System
• Positive Sentiment: Pershing Square, managed by Bill Ackman, reportedly increased its Microsoft position by 6.2 million shares. The purchase may provide a sentiment boost by signaling confidence from a prominent activist investor. Pershing Square’s Bill Ackman Boosts Microsoft Stake
• Neutral Sentiment: Strong demand for high-bandwidth memory from Microsoft and other AI companies is benefiting suppliers such as SK Hynix. The report highlights Microsoft’s continued AI infrastructure spending, but also underscores dependence on costly hardware and supply-chain capacity. Nvidia and Meta Are Hungry for HBM
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft’s latest Patch Tuesday addressed a record 974 vulnerabilities, including two Windows zero-days reportedly exploited in the wild. While the fixes reduce longer-term security risk, the scale of the release may raise concerns about software quality, cybersecurity costs and potential customer disruption. Microsoft Patches Record 974 Flaws
• Negative Sentiment: An analyst downgrade argues that Microsoft’s AI capital-expenditure rotation does not yet support an optimistic view, intensifying concerns that infrastructure spending could pressure returns and free cash flow before monetization catches up. Microsoft: CapEx Rotation Does Not Support an Optimistic View
• Negative Sentiment: Fresh lawsuits from news organizations over AI training and content usage add legal and regulatory uncertainty to Microsoft’s OpenAI relationship. Rising Treasury yields are an additional valuation headwind for large technology companies. Microsoft’s OpenAI Partnership Draws Fresh Legal Fire

About Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company that develops software, cloud services, devices and digital solutions for consumers, businesses and public-sector organizations. Its products and services include the Windows operating system, Microsoft 365 productivity applications, Teams collaboration software, Dynamics business applications and Azure cloud computing services.

The company also operates LinkedIn, GitHub and Xbox, which includes gaming consoles, video games and related online services.

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