Legal & General Group Plc Sells 864,729 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Legal & General Group Plc reduced its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 51,092,621 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 864,729 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 5.5% of Legal & General Group Plc’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $24,709,413,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BLVD Private Wealth LLC grew 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 buying an additional 19 shares during the period. Magnolia Capital Management Ltd. grew 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 buying an additional 20 shares during the period. ARK & TLK Investments LLC grew 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 buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Rochester Wealth Strategies LLC grew 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 buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC grew 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 buying an additional 20 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total transaction of $519,111.08. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 46,003 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,922,874.02. This trade represents a 2.67% 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, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.99, for a total transaction of $7,145,345.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 110,477 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,928,792.23. This represents a 12.30% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s Build 2026 announcements and related coverage continued to reinforce the company’s AI growth story, including new in-house models, agent tools, Windows upgrades, and enterprise AI infrastructure that could deepen its competitive position. Analysts Say Buy Microsoft Stock (MSFT) after Build 2026 Reinforces AI Growth Story
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple articles highlighted Microsoft’s AI revenue run rate crossing $37 billion, suggesting strong monetization from Azure, Copilot, and enterprise AI offerings. Microsoft’s AI Revenue Run Rate Just Crossed $37 Billion. Is It the Best AI Stock to Buy Now?
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street sentiment remains supportive, with TD Cowen reiterating a buy rating and a $540 target, while other analysts and investors continue to frame Microsoft as a durable long-term AI and cloud leader. The Market Is Undervaluing Microsoft, Says Analyst
• Positive Sentiment: Bill Ackman’s bullish comments comparing Microsoft, Meta, and Amazon to long-term compounding opportunities also added to the constructive investment narrative around MSFT. Billionaire Investor Bill Ackman: Buying Microsoft, Meta, and Amazon Today Could Be Like Adding Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway 25 Years Ago
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft announced Reid Hoffman will leave its board after nearly a decade; the move appears planned, though it removes a board member closely associated with the LinkedIn/OpenAI relationship. LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman to step down from Microsoft’s board
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft is also attracting attention for broader AI ecosystem developments, including fusion power support from Helion and network-security integration for AI agents, which are positive long-term but not immediate stock catalysts. Helion, the Sam Altman-backed fusion startup, raises $465M to build a power plant for Microsoft
• Negative Sentiment: Several pieces flagged technical weakness in Microsoft’s chart and said the stock’s recent rejection at resistance could weigh on the broader software trade. Microsoft Stock Charts Look Vulnerable. Software Stocks Could Follow.
• Negative Sentiment: Commentary around Satya Nadella rebuking an internal “make people addicted” AI memo and renewed concern over Microsoft’s relationship with OpenAI may be creating some short-term reputational and partnership noise. Reid Hoffman to Leave Microsoft’s Board of Directors

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Evercore lowered their target price on shares of Microsoft from $580.00 to $510.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and set a $540.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday. DZ Bank restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Scotiabank cut their price objective on Microsoft from $600.00 to $550.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Forty-one equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $561.20.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $416.67 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.28. The company has a market capitalization of $3.10 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.80, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.11. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $356.28 and a 1 year high of $555.45. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $407.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $431.54.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 net margin of 39.34% and a return on equity of 31.94%. Microsoft’s revenue was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.46 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be paid 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 yield of 0.9%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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).