Microsoft Corporation $MSFT is Jennison Associates LLC’s 2nd Largest Position

Jennison Associates LLC reduced its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,051,290 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 417,612 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 6.1% of Jennison Associates LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Jennison Associates LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $10,180,825,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 51.3% in the second quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the third quarter valued at $38,000. Fairway Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 287.0% in the fourth quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the third quarter valued at $49,000. Finally, University of Illinois Foundation acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter valued at $50,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MSFT. BNP Paribas Exane reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $556.00 to $555.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $575.00 to $550.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Dbs Bank reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $678.00 to $573.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings cut Microsoft from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Thirty-nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $560.88.

Key Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: The biggest catalyst was a $9.7 billion Pentagon contract to consolidate Microsoft and other software licenses into one vehicle, which should streamline federal procurement and reinforce Microsoft’s government software footprint. Pentagon awards Microsoft $9.7 billion deal in bid to cut costs, end license sprawl
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple reports said HSBC sees Microsoft’s Anthropic partnership as potentially worth up to $43 billion in annual revenue by 2030, lifting optimism around Azure and Microsoft’s AI monetization path. Is Microsoft ditching OpenAI for Anthropic?
• Positive Sentiment: KeyBanc reiterated an Overweight rating, citing continued strength in Azure and Copilot, while other analyst notes argued Wall Street may be underestimating Microsoft’s AI revenue potential. KeyBanc Reiterates Overweight Rating on Microsoft (MSFT) on Azure and Copilot Growth
• Positive Sentiment: HP’s earnings beat, driven in part by the Windows 11 refresh cycle and AI PC demand, indirectly supports Microsoft by signaling healthy PC upgrade activity around its ecosystem. HP beats revenue, profit estimates as AI PC and Windows 11 refresh boost demand
• Neutral Sentiment: Several items were broadly supportive of Microsoft’s AI strategy, including partner integrations around Microsoft Marketplace, Microsoft Foundry, and Microsoft Dynamics 365, but these are more incremental ecosystem updates than major stock-moving events.
• Negative Sentiment: Some commentary focused on near-term concerns around Microsoft’s heavy AI infrastructure spending and rising compute costs, with a few pieces arguing the stock remains under pressure despite the earnings beat. Cost of Compute is Far Beyond the Costs of the Employees: Microsoft Stock (NASDAQ:MSFT) Slips as the Achilles Heel is Found
• Negative Sentiment: There were also reports that Dan Loeb’s Third Point exited Microsoft, which may add to investor caution even as longer-term AI enthusiasm remains intact. Billionaire Dan Loeb Cashed Out of Microsoft Stock. Shares Are Down 14.2% YTD.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.8%

MSFT opened at $412.67 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $400.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $435.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.28. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $356.28 and a one year high of $555.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.07 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.10.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.67%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total transaction of $5,045,695.92. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 137,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,486,322.16. This trade represents a 8.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total value of $519,111.08. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 46,003 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,922,874.02. This represents a 2.67% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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).