Sat Dec 07 02:11:17 UTC 2024: ## Sumitomo Life Insurance Increases Microsoft Stake; Other Institutional Investors Follow Suit

**NEW YORK, NY – [Date of Publication]** – Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. boosted its holdings in Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) by 4.9% during the third quarter, acquiring an additional 7,298 shares, according to a recent Form 13F filing. This brings Sumitomo’s total ownership to 155,275 shares, valued at approximately $66.8 million, representing 1.3% of its portfolio and making Microsoft its seventh-largest holding.

Sumitomo’s move follows a trend of increased institutional investment in Microsoft. Several other firms, including WFA Asset Management Corp (up 27%), China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. (up 62%), Quent Capital LLC (up 4.3%), ProShare Advisors LLC (up 13.7%), and Focused Wealth Management Inc (up 0.7%), all increased their stakes in the software giant during the first quarter of the year. In total, hedge funds and institutional investors own 71.13% of Microsoft’s stock.

Microsoft’s stock price closed at $443.21 on Friday, up $0.59, on trading volume of 5,631,903 shares. The company recently reported strong third-quarter earnings, exceeding analyst expectations with $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) on revenue of $65.59 billion. This compares favorably to the prior year’s $2.99 EPS and represents a 16% year-over-year revenue increase. Analysts project Microsoft to post 12.93 EPS for the current fiscal year. The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.83 per share and a $60 billion stock buyback plan.

Several analysts have recently weighed in on Microsoft’s prospects. KeyCorp raised its price target to $505, Royal Bank of Canada maintained an outperform rating with a $500 target, while JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered its target to $465. Wedbush and Truist Financial issued outperform and buy ratings, respectively, with price targets of $550 and $600. The average analyst rating currently stands at “Moderate Buy,” with a $504.36 average price target.

Despite the positive outlook, insider trading activity indicates some selling pressure. Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares in September, and CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares. Overall, insiders have sold 98,578 shares in the last three months.

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