Pensionfund Sabic Acquires Shares of 18,590 Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Pensionfund Sabic bought a new position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 18,590 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $8,990,000. Microsoft makes up approximately 2.4% of Pensionfund Sabic’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MSFT. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Microsoft by 2.0% in 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 in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 299,196,519 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $148,823,341,000 after purchasing an additional 3,166,275 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 179,001,751 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $88,714,256,000 after purchasing an additional 3,532,054 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at about $50,493,678,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $35,316,535,000 after buying an additional 11,600,470 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Company rolled out Copilot Cowork and other Copilot upgrades (task?execution across Microsoft 365 and multi?model workflows) that expand enterprise AI use cases and adoption potential. This is being cited as a revenue/ADOPTION catalyst. Microsoft unveils AI upgrades, rolls out Copilot Cowork to early-access customers
• Positive Sentiment: Market commentary highlights the Copilot expansion and new AI products as the main reason for today’s upside — investors are watching how quickly Copilot adoption converts to revenue without margin pressure. Stock Market Today, March 30: Microsoft Rises on Copilot Expansion and New AI Product Launches
• Positive Sentiment: Technical/valuation traders and some high?profile investors see opportunity: pieces pointing to MSFT being “oversold” and comments from investors calling the stock “extremely cheap” are prompting buy?the?dip flows. Those narratives can amplify rallies after product news. Microsoft Stock Hasn’t Been This Oversold In Years — Time To Buy? Bill Ackman Calls Microsoft (MSFT) and Nvidia (NVDA) ‘Extremely Cheap’ Amid Market Selloff
• Positive Sentiment: Some bullish analysts argue the pullback creates large upside potential (one note citing a big rebound scenario), which can attract speculative buying on rebounds. One Analyst Sees Microsoft Soaring 90%. Here’s What the Market Might Be Missing
• Neutral Sentiment: Gaming/business model moves (Game Pass rethink and an expanded Xbox roster) are longer?term strategic positives but remain a mixed near?term revenue story given tough comps and prior weakness in gaming revenue. Impact on today’s trade is limited. Microsoft’s bold Game Pass rethink resets the rule for gaming
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst and market skepticism persists: UBS cut its price target (still a buy), and broader headlines note MSFT as the worst?performing Magnificent Seven stock YTD — reminders that sentiment remains fragile and could cap rallies. UBS Lowers PT on Microsoft (MSFT), Maintains a Buy Rating Microsoft Stock (MSFT) Is the Worst Mag 7 Performer YTD — Here’s Who Owns It
• Negative Sentiment: Coverage questions whether MSFT’s diversified model is helping or masking AI execution issues; continued underperformance vs. the S&P and macro/geopolitical selloffs (e.g., recent market shocks) are headwinds for sentiment and could lead to further downside if adoption/profit translation disappoints. Microsoft’s stock may extend a record stretch of lagging performance that’s ignited fierce debate

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the topic of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings downgraded Microsoft from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $575.00 to $550.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “hold” rating and set a $392.00 price target (down from $540.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $641.00 price objective (down from $645.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $588.97.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.6%

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $358.96 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $407.34 and its 200-day moving average is $466.20. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $555.45. The firm has a market cap of $2.67 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.10.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The software giant reported $4.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.86 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $81.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $80.28 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.04% and a return on equity of 32.34%. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.23 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be given a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.76%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total value of $5,045,695.92. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 137,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,486,322.16. The trade was a 8.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director John W. Stanton acquired 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $397.35 per share, with a total value of $1,986,750.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 83,905 shares in the company, valued at $33,339,651.75. The trade was a 6.34% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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).