Aware Super Pty Ltd as trustee of Aware Super Invests $315.81 Million in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Aware Super purchased 853,141 Microsoft shares worth approximately $315.8 million during the first quarter, making Microsoft its third-largest holding at about 4.8% of the portfolio.
• Microsoft reported quarterly revenue of $90.01 billion and adjusted EPS of $4.74, beating analyst estimates, while Azure revenue rose 43% year over year. Analysts remain broadly bullish, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and $558.64 price target.
• Despite strong cloud and AI momentum, Microsoft faces risks including substantial AI infrastructure costs, data-center power constraints, regulatory scrutiny and a reported cloud-security flaw; company insiders also sold more than $10.5 million of stock over the past 90 days.

Aware Super Pty Ltd as trustee of Aware Super purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 853,141 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $315,807,000. Microsoft makes up approximately 4.8% of Aware Super Pty Ltd as trustee of Aware Super's holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 51.3% during the 2nd quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Bernzott Capital Advisors purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Fairway Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 287.0% during the fourth quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the period. Finally, LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $44,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on MSFT shares. Mizuho decreased their target price on Microsoft from $515.00 to $490.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $595.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Raymond James Financial cut shares of Microsoft from a "market perform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Argus lowered their target price on shares of Microsoft from $620.00 to $510.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Finally, DZ Bank reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Forty-two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $558.64.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 110,477 shares in the company, valued at $50,928,792.23. The trade was a 12.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.84, for a total transaction of $1,812,780.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 47,468 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,122,009.12. This represents a 8.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 23,762 shares of company stock worth $10,508,361. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

More Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Azure growth exceeded expectations. Azure revenue increased 43% year over year, and annual Azure sales surpassed $100 billion for the first time. Management also guided to approximately 45% Azure growth in the next quarter, reinforcing confidence in Microsoft’s cloud and enterprise AI demand. Microsoft Shares Jump After Strong Outlook and Solid AI-Driven Growth
• Positive Sentiment: The earnings beat was substantial. Microsoft reported quarterly revenue of $90.01 billion and adjusted EPS of $4.74, above analyst estimates of $87.62 billion and $4.24, respectively. Net income reportedly rose 31%, while revenue increased about 18% year over year. Microsoft Q4 Earnings Beat Estimates as Cloud and AI Drive Results
• Positive Sentiment: AI monetization and financial discipline eased investor concerns. Microsoft 365 Copilot surpassed 30 million paid seats, its commercial remaining performance obligation reached $678 billion—up 84% year over year—and management held its capital-expenditure outlook broadly steady while emphasizing continued cash generation. Investors viewed this as a better balance between infrastructure investment and returns than some peers have demonstrated. Microsoft Eases AI Spending Concerns
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts largely reaffirmed bullish views, with several price-target increases, although estimates remain wide. Microsoft’s stock is now trading well above its 50-day and 200-day moving averages after a historic rally, raising the possibility of increased volatility or profit-taking.
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft continues to face risks from data-center power constraints, chip costs, regulatory scrutiny and the enormous scale of AI investment. A reported cloud-security flaw that could have exposed customers adds another operational concern. Cyber Firm Wiz Reports Microsoft Cloud Flaw
• Negative Sentiment: Several law firms publicized a securities class-action lawsuit concerning investors who purchased Microsoft shares between May 1, 2025, and January 28, 2026, with an August 11 lead-plaintiff deadline. Such announcements may create reputational and legal overhang, although they have not offset the earnings-driven optimism. Microsoft Securities Class Action Deadline

Microsoft Stock Up 3.0%

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $464.72 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.45 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.88, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.13. The firm's fifty day moving average is $397.99 and its 200 day moving average is $405.96. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $349.20 and a 52 week high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.50. The business had revenue of $90.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $87.62 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 31.98%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.65 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 20th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Microsoft's payout ratio is presently 20.27%.

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).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.