Seilern Investment Management Ltd Reduces Stock Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Seilern Investment Management cut its Microsoft stake by 12.7% in the second quarter, selling 16,698 shares and retaining 115,127 shares valued at approximately $42.9 million. Microsoft represents 5.4% of the firm’s portfolio.
• Institutional investors own 71.13% of Microsoft, while company insiders sold 37,310 shares worth $17.3 million over the past three months.
• Despite the selling, analysts remain broadly bullish, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $560.27. Microsoft recently beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, reporting $4.74 EPS and $90.01 billion in revenue.

Seilern Investment Management Ltd trimmed its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 12.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 115,127 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 16,698 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 5.4% of Seilern Investment Management Ltd's holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Seilern Investment Management Ltd's holdings in Microsoft were worth $42,945,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC raised its position 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 during the last quarter. Bernzott Capital Advisors purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. Fairway Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 287.0% during the 4th quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the software giant's stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $21,188,276.96. The trade was a 10.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $487.89, for a total transaction of $4,878,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 100,447 shares of the company's stock, valued at $49,007,086.83. This trade represents a 9.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 37,310 shares of company stock worth $17,256,219 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $640.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Phillip Securities downgraded Microsoft from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $515.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Truist Financial reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $575.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $660.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Forty-two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $560.27.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $487.31 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $421.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $409.73. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $349.20 and a 52 week high of $553.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.62 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.13, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.50. The firm had revenue of $90.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $87.62 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.98% and a net margin of 40.31%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.65 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 20th will be given a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.27%.

More Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s data-center expansion is becoming central to the bullish case. Analysts argue that demand is already supported by booked orders, with the company’s commercial backlog reportedly reaching approximately $678 billion. The opportunity depends on how quickly Microsoft can add capacity and deliver Azure AI services. Microsoft Stock's Upside Now Runs Through Its Data Center Build
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple market commentaries remain constructive on Microsoft’s enterprise AI platform, citing Azure, Office and the company’s broader software ecosystem as sources of a durable competitive moat. Recent earnings also showed strong momentum, with revenue growth of 17.7% and earnings exceeding expectations. Microsoft Stock in 2027: My Prediction Is That It Still Beats the Market
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s upcoming Xbox release schedule could help stabilize or revive gaming revenue after a recent sales slowdown, although the impact depends on the performance of the new titles. Can Xbox's Upcoming Gaming Roster Lift MSFT's Gaming Revenues?
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports that employees shared compensation details and monthly AI usage costs in internal spreadsheets provide transparency but have limited direct earnings implications. They may nevertheless draw attention to Microsoft’s workforce costs and the scale of internal AI adoption. Microsoft employees reveal how much cash they're burning on AI
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned that heavy AI infrastructure spending is outpacing shareholder distributions and could weigh on free cash flow, margins and future dividend growth. Related commentary also highlights the broader debt burden associated with the AI buildout. Microsoft's AI spending and dividend costs
• Negative Sentiment: Australia’s new rules requiring large digital platforms to compensate local news publishers create additional obligations for LinkedIn and could modestly increase regulatory and operating costs. Microsoft Gets New Australia News Rules

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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