UniSuper Management Pty Ltd Has $1.22 Billion Stock Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• UniSuper Management Pty Ltd trimmed its Microsoft stake by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, but still held 2.52 million shares worth about $1.22 billion. Microsoft remains its second-largest holding and makes up roughly 7.3% of its portfolio.
• Institutional ownership remains very high, with 71.13% of Microsoft shares held by institutions. Several other funds also increased their positions, indicating continued broad investor interest.
• Wall Street sentiment is still constructive: analysts have assigned Microsoft an average rating of “Moderate Buy” with an average target price of $561.20, even as recent insider sales and some target-price cuts have added mixed signals.

UniSuper Management Pty Ltd reduced its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,520,091 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 33,340 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 7.3% of UniSuper Management Pty Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd's holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,218,766,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MSFT. WFA Asset Management Corp boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 27.0% in the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant's stock worth $427,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the period. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the second quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant's stock worth $5,658,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 410.4% in the third quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 2,659 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,144,000 after purchasing an additional 2,138 shares during the period. Wealth Group Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. now owns 2,374 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,000,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 23,097 shares of the software giant's stock worth $9,735,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Raymond James Financial lowered shares of Microsoft from a "market perform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. HSBC dropped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $593.00 to $571.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $392.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. DA Davidson dropped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $650.00 to $550.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $675.00 to $575.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Forty-one research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $561.20.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.99, for a total value of $7,145,345.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 110,477 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $50,928,792.23. This represents a 12.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $412.45, for a total transaction of $1,031,125.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 51,968 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,434,201.60. This represents a 4.59% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 19,262 shares of company stock valued at $8,695,581. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Microsoft News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Several commentators remain bullish on Microsoft’s long-term AI outlook, arguing the stock looks attractive after the recent pullback and that Copilot/agentic AI could still drive upside. Microsoft Remains A Generational Buying Opportunity In The Agentic AI Era
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft continues to win AI-infrastructure-related business, including a new 260 MW solar supply deal that supports its data-center and cloud expansion needs. MN8 Energy Delivers 260 MW of Solar to Microsoft Across Two U.S. Power Markets
• Positive Sentiment: The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share, reinforcing Microsoft’s cash-generation strength and shareholder-return profile. Microsoft announces quarterly dividend
• Neutral Sentiment: Satya Nadella’s comments on using the right AI model for the right task highlight Microsoft’s push for AI efficiency, but also signal growing attention to AI compute costs. Satya Nadella Warns Against AI Overuse
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft limiting employee use of Anthropic’s Claude Fable 5 over data-retention concerns underscores tighter AI governance, though the direct financial impact appears limited. Microsoft limits employee use of Anthropic's Claude Fable 5
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Xbox is preparing major layoffs and budget cuts are pressuring sentiment, as they point to restructuring and weaker confidence in the gaming segment. Microsoft's Xbox plans for major layoffs next month
• Negative Sentiment: News that Microsoft is cutting jobs in its Azure unit in China adds to concerns about geopolitical friction and near-term cloud execution. Microsoft lays off hundreds from Azure unit in China
• Negative Sentiment: Broader commentary that AI data-center spending may be facing a reality check is weighing on the market’s enthusiasm for Microsoft’s heavy AI capex plans. Wall Street's $800 Billion AI Data Center Bet Is Showing Cracks

Microsoft Price Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $390.34 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.90 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.23, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.11. The firm's fifty day moving average is $410.65 and its 200 day moving average is $429.22. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. 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 earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.06 by $0.21. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.34% and a return on equity of 31.94%. The business had revenue of $82.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $81.44 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.46 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be paid 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 0.9%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 21.67%.

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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