C WorldWide Group Holding A S Cuts Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• C WorldWide Group Holding A S reduced its Microsoft stake by 7.7% in the first quarter, selling 66,121 shares. It still held 794,890 shares worth approximately $294.2 million, making Microsoft its fourth-largest portfolio position.
• Microsoft reported a strong quarter, with revenue of $90.01 billion and adjusted EPS of $4.74, surpassing analyst estimates. Azure revenue rose 43% year over year, while paid Microsoft 365 Copilot seats exceeded 30 million.
• Wall Street remains broadly positive, with 42 analysts rating Microsoft a Buy and five a Hold; the consensus target is $558.64. Shares also carry a quarterly dividend of $0.91, though investors face risks from elevated valuation, AI spending, infrastructure constraints, regulatory scrutiny and cloud-security concerns.

C WorldWide Group Holding A S reduced its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 7.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 794,890 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 66,121 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 6.3% of C WorldWide Group Holding A S's portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. C WorldWide Group Holding A S's holdings in Microsoft were worth $294,244,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 51.3% during the second 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 Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Fairway Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 287.0% in the fourth quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the software giant's stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at $44,000. 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: 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 Microsoft stock opened at $464.72 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.45 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.13. Microsoft Corporation has a 52-week low of $349.20 and a 52-week high of $555.45. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $397.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $405.96.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on MSFT shares. Arete Research boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $730.00 to $870.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $646.00 to $647.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $640.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday. Forty-two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $558.64.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

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

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).

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