Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) Investors: A Breakdown Of The Shorts

Nowadays, there are lots of indicators for Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) readers to pay attention to, but it’s absolutely crucial to monitor a company’s short sellers. Some metrics typically used are: (a) the chunk of a company’s shares that the shorts are presently shorting, plus (b) the change in shorting activity.

More shorting usually means what you’d think: the Street has become less optimistic about the stock. Overselling, though, sometimes has a bullish effect on stock price, as short-ers can be forced to buy their positions.

Within our database, it’s no secret that we pay attention to the smart money’s sentiment, but it’s eqaully as crucial to pair this data with overall short interest data. In some high-profile cases, big time players may disclose that they’re short on a particular company, but it is not an SEC requirement. Nonetheless, many retail players might want to stay away from heavily short sold stocks with elevated hedgie support, while others might want short-squeeze candidates. For investors wanting a market-beating piggybacking strategy, discover the details of our premium strategy.

With that in mind, let’s take a glance at the key data swirling around Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT).

Analyzing the newest FINRA data, which is reported two times a month, we can realize that Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) has a short interest of 1.30% of float. This is a slight increase from the previous two-week period. With a total float of 8.01B shares, this is a short ratio of 2.10.

It is also crucial to take note of hedge fund holdings via their quarterly 13F filings. When analyzing the funds we track, Donald Yacktman’s Yacktman Asset Management had the most valuable position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), worth close to $1.183 billion, accounting for 6.1% of its total 13F portfolio. On Yacktman Asset Management’s heels is Jeffrey Ubben of ValueAct Capital, with a $954.2 million position; the fund has 10.8% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Some other hedge funds that are bullish include Jean-Marie Eveillard’s First Eagle Investment Management, Boykin Curry’s Eagle Capital Management and Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management.

Also, insider purchases made by high-level executives is at its handiest when the company in question has experienced transactions within the past six months. Over the latest 180-day time period, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) has seen zero unique insiders buying, and 4 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also take a look at activity in other stocks similar to Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT). These stocks are Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU), Adobe Systems Incorporated (NASDAQ:ADBE), salesforce.com, inc. (NYSE:CRM), SAP AG (ADR) (NYSE:SAP), and Oracle Corporation (NASDAQ:ORCL). This group of stocks are in the application software industry and their market caps are closest to MSFT’s market cap.