Prudential PLC Has $335.97 Million Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Prudential PLC decreased its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 694,707 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 19,692 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 2.7% of Prudential PLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Prudential PLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $335,974,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. BLVD Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 0.6% during the third quarter. BLVD Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,169 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,641,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the period. Magnolia Capital Management Ltd. lifted its position in Microsoft by 0.3% during the third quarter. Magnolia Capital Management Ltd. now owns 6,509 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,371,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. ARK & TLK Investments LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 1.0% during the third quarter. ARK & TLK Investments LLC now owns 1,935 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,002,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Rochester Wealth Strategies LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 2.9% during the third quarter. Rochester Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 700 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $363,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC lifted 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 purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. President Capital upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on Microsoft from $641.00 to $646.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and set a $540.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Finally, New Street Research lowered their target price on Microsoft from $675.00 to $600.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Forty-one analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $561.20.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $412.45, for a total value of $1,031,125.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 51,968 shares in the company, valued at $21,434,201.60. This represents a 4.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total value of $519,111.08. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 46,003 shares in the company, valued at $18,922,874.02. The trade was a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 19,262 shares of company stock worth $8,695,581 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Investors are showing bullish sentiment toward Microsoft, with unusually heavy buying in long-dated call options suggesting some traders expect upside from here. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft announced a quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share, reinforcing its cash-generation and shareholder-return profile. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: MN8 Energy said two solar projects totaling 260 MW are now online under long-term power purchase agreements with Microsoft, supporting its AI/data-center infrastructure needs. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft is expanding AI and cloud partnerships, including new agentic AI collaborations and Copilot-related deployments, which supports the long-term growth narrative but also underscores ongoing AI spending pressure. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft is reportedly cutting hundreds of jobs in its Azure unit in China, highlighting regulatory friction and weaker operating conditions in a key market. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Xbox is planning major layoffs and budget cuts next month are adding to concerns about slower growth and restructuring costs in Microsoft’s gaming division. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft is also limiting employee use of Anthropic’s Claude Fable 5 over data-retention concerns, a reminder of the risks and competitive tensions around AI tools and partners. Article Title

Microsoft Stock Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $397.36 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $410.24 and a 200-day moving average of $429.80. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $356.28 and a 1 year 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 company has a market capitalization of $2.95 trillion, a P/E ratio of 23.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.11.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.06 by $0.21. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.94% and a net margin of 39.34%.The company had revenue of $82.89 billion during 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 firm’s revenue was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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 issued a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.67%.

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).