HS Management Partners LLC Reduces Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

HS Management Partners LLC cut its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 39.6% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 81,595 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 53,460 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 5.5% of HS Management Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 5th largest position. HS Management Partners LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $42,262,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Microsoft by 2.0% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 705,077,786 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $350,712,742,000 after purchasing an additional 13,691,572 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 299,196,519 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $148,823,341,000 after buying an additional 3,166,275 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 2.0% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 179,001,751 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $88,714,256,000 after purchasing an additional 3,532,054 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at $50,493,678,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $35,316,535,000 after acquiring an additional 11,600,470 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

More Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Maia 200 AI chip launch: Microsoft unveiled a second‑generation inference accelerator that management says cuts inference cost and power per query — a direct lever to improve Azure/Copilot margins as AI usage scales. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Large data‑center approvals: Mount Pleasant, Wis., board approved plans for 15 additional data centers (multi‑billion dollar project); expands capacity to meet AI demand and supports long‑term Azure revenue growth. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Strong cloud / AI momentum into earnings: Multiple previews highlight robust Azure growth and Copilot monetization as the primary upside drivers for revenue and guidance sensitivity. Investors expect management commentary on monetization and backlog. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Market positioning ahead of Q2: Analysts and traders are pricing in a high‑expectations earnings event where forward guidance will likely matter more than the headline quarter. Watch capex/guidance language. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Shareholder returns: Microsoft announced its first 2026 dividend payment date — supports income investors but has limited near‑term price impact vs. AI narrative. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst concern on margins/CAPEX: Stifel lowered its price target citing near‑term margin pressure from elevated AI spend; other firms have trimmed targets or reiterated caution ahead of guidance. That raises downside risk if management signals continued heavy spend. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Environmental & regulatory/ESG scrutiny: Reporting flags rising water use at AI data centers — a potential regulatory/community constraint and reputational risk that could affect future site approvals and costs. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Legal/third‑party AI risk: A class action tied to an AI hiring tool used by Big Tech (including Microsoft customers) underscores litigation and compliance risks around AI deployments. Read More.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 2,850 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $478.72, for a total value of $1,364,352.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 55,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,703,959.04. The trade was a 4.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 38,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $518.64, for a total transaction of $19,967,640.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 461,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $239,402,668.08. This represents a 7.70% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 54,100 shares of company stock worth $27,598,872 over the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Stock Up 2.2%

MSFT stock opened at $480.58 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.57 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.07. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $477.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $500.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.39. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.65 by $0.48. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.45% and a net margin of 35.71%.The firm had revenue of $77.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $75.49 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.30 earnings per share. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on MSFT. BNP Paribas Exane raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $632.00 to $659.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on Microsoft from $637.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $650.00 to $625.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, DZ Bank restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $612.58.

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).