Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Position Decreased by Ninety One UK Ltd

Ninety One UK Ltd trimmed its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,453,447 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 44,928 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 8.5% of Ninety One UK Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its largest position. Ninety One UK Ltd owned about 0.10% of Microsoft worth $3,860,513,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. WFA Asset Management Corp increased its holdings in Microsoft by 27.0% in the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $427,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. 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. increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. now owns 2,374 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,000,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 23,097 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,735,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Guggenheim set a $675.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. TD Cowen raised their price target on Microsoft from $640.00 to $655.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Mizuho lowered Microsoft from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. Daiwa Capital Markets cut their target price on Microsoft from $640.00 to $630.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $630.37.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $456.66 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.39 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.48, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.07. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $484.71 and a 200 day moving average of $502.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.65 by $0.48. The business had revenue of $77.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $75.49 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.45% and a net margin of 35.71%.The company’s revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.30 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.89%.

Key Headlines Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Barclays reaffirmed a Buy on MSFT and kept a high $610 price target, signaling strong analyst conviction about upside from AI and cloud exposure — a line of support for the stock amid recent weakness. Microsoft receives a buy rating from Barclays
• Positive Sentiment: Wikipedia signed licensing deals with Microsoft and other big tech firms — this expands Microsoft’s access to high-quality training data and reduces content friction for AI services, supporting Azure/Copilot product differentiation. Wikipedia signs AI licensing deals
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst and industry write-ups emphasize Azure’s multi-model AI infrastructure and enterprise traction, reinforcing the revenue growth narrative that underpins Microsoft’s premium valuation. Will MSFT stock climb as Azure AI gains traction?
• Positive Sentiment: Surveys and analyst commentary (Morgan Stanley / CIO surveys) continue to highlight Microsoft’s leadership in generative AI and enterprise cloud, supporting longer-term upside expectations even as the stock cools. CIO survey highlights MSFT leadership
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft rolled out a “community-first” plan for U.S. AI datacenter buildout — a strategic PR and regulatory move intended to ease local opposition and long-term buildout risk; it’s constructive but not an immediate revenue driver. Microsoft unveils community-first plan
• Neutral Sentiment: Upcoming earnings (fiscal Q2 results due Jan. 28) are a near-term catalyst — could amplify moves in either direction depending on Azure AI growth metrics and margin commentary. Why Jan. 28 could be big for investors
• Negative Sentiment: Switzerland’s competition authority opened a preliminary inquiry into Microsoft’s licensing fees after complaints about price hikes for Microsoft 365 — potential regulatory action could pressure product pricing and margins in Europe. Swiss probe into licensing fees
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Microsoft’s annual spend on Anthropic approaches ~$500M raise concerns about rising third‑party AI model costs and margin pressure for AI features (a strategic bet but one that increases operating expense). Anthropic spending nears $500M
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft agreed to a record purchase of soil carbon credits to offset data‑center emissions — a meaningful one‑time ESG cost and a sign of mounting operational expenses tied to AI growth (positive for ESG but a near-term cash outlay). Record soil carbon credit deal

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 38,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $518.64, for a total value of $19,967,640.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 461,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $239,402,668.08. This trade represents a 7.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 12,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.52, for a total transaction of $6,266,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 129,349 shares in the company, valued at approximately $63,577,620.48. This trade represents a 8.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 54,100 shares of company stock worth $27,598,872 over the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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).