Sands Capital Management LLC Has $1.19 Billion Stake in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Sands Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 13.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,470,769 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 394,869 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 3.6% of Sands Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Sands Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,194,913,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC increased 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 valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Bernzott Capital Advisors bought a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. Fairway Wealth LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 287.0% during the fourth quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at $44,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.99, for a total value of $7,145,345.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 110,477 shares in the company, valued at $50,928,792.23. This represents a 12.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.84, for a total value of $1,812,780.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 47,468 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,122,009.12. This represents a 8.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 23,762 shares of company stock worth $10,508,361 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $399.76 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.97 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.11. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $356.28 and a fifty-two week high of $555.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The business’s 50-day moving average is $411.60 and its 200-day moving average is $428.09.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.06 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $82.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $81.44 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.94% and a net margin of 39.34%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.46 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.67%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on MSFT shares. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $595.00 to $680.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $515.00 target price (down from $630.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $625.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Citigroup began coverage on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, June 1st. They set a “market outperform” rating for the company. Forty-one analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $561.20.

Trending Headlines about Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is getting credit for continued AI momentum, including a new coding model, a quantum-computing milestone with Quantinuum, and new availability of NuPlay in the Microsoft Marketplace, all of which reinforce the company’s long-term platform strength. Article: Microsoft (MSFT) and Quantinuum (QNT) Hit Quantum Milestone, Moving Closer to Commercial Reality
• Positive Sentiment: Satya Nadella’s comments that Xbox must become “sustainable” were interpreted as a sign Microsoft is willing to push for better margins and discipline in its gaming business. Article: Microsoft Stock (MSFT) Jumps as CEO Satya Nadella Says Xbox Needs to Become ‘Sustainable’
• Positive Sentiment: Some analysts and commentators continue to argue that Microsoft’s valuation reset could make the stock more attractive, especially if AI, cloud, and quantum investments eventually accelerate growth. Article: Microsoft’s Giant’s Valuation Reset Creates a Real Dilemma
• Neutral Sentiment: Bill Ackman’s portfolio shifts and broader market chatter around AI leaders reflect ongoing institutional debate about Microsoft’s role in the AI trade, but do not directly change the business outlook. Article: Microsoft or Alphabet: Billionaire Bill Ackman Goes All In on One AI Stock, Dumps the Other
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft is facing a shareholder lawsuit alleging it failed to disclose slowing Azure growth and the need for heavy AI infrastructure spending, which raises concerns about margins, transparency, and near-term cloud execution. Article: Microsoft sued by shareholders over expenses, cloud business, AI
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple law firms have launched securities-fraud investigations and class-action efforts against Microsoft, adding legal overhang and headline risk for investors. Article: Securities Fraud Investigation Into Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) Announced
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Microsoft is weighing shutdowns or spin-out options for parts of Xbox, plus insider-selling headlines, reinforce investor worries that some businesses may need restructuring and tighter cost control. Article: Report: Microsoft weighing up spinning off Xbox

Microsoft 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).