Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. Boosts Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Coronation Fund Managers increased its Microsoft stake by 49.3% in the first quarter, adding 45,793 shares for a total of 138,606 shares valued at approximately $51.3 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 71.13% of Microsoft.
• Microsoft reported quarterly adjusted earnings of $4.74 per share and revenue of $90.01 billion, exceeding analyst estimates; revenue increased 17.7% year over year. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share, representing a 0.7% yield.
• Analysts maintain a broadly positive outlook, with 42 Buy ratings, five Hold ratings, a “Moderate Buy” consensus, and an average price target of $558.87. However, investors remain focused on rising AI infrastructure costs, potential margin pressure, customer concentration, and recent insider selling.

Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. raised its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 49.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 138,606 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 45,793 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 2.3% of Coronation Fund Managers Ltd.'s holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $51,308,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 717,942,580 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $347,211,391,000 after acquiring an additional 15,955,898 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 306,150,608 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $148,060,557,000 after purchasing an additional 6,388,930 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 182,618,400 shares of the software giant's stock worth $88,056,019,000 after purchasing an additional 1,911,142 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in Microsoft by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 121,220,561 shares of the software giant's stock worth $58,624,690,000 after purchasing an additional 980,439 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $50,664,631,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $499.99 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $404.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $406.96. The stock has a market cap of $3.71 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.84, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $349.20 and a 12 month high of $553.72.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $87.62 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.65 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is presently 20.27%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $496.48, for a total value of $2,388,068.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 42,677 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,188,276.96. The trade was a 10.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total value of $519,111.08. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 46,003 shares in the company, valued at $18,922,874.02. The trade was a 2.67% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 38,572 shares of company stock valued at $17,775,330. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Trending Headlines about Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Citi raised its Microsoft price target to $600. The upgrade follows Microsoft’s quarterly Azure performance, with analysts highlighting the 43% cloud-revenue increase and stronger-than-expected earnings as evidence that AI demand is translating into accelerating cloud growth. Citi Raises Microsoft Stock Target to $600
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s custom AI chips may improve cloud economics. CEO Satya Nadella said the company’s internally developed chips can deliver efficiency gains of up to 40%. Better cost and energy efficiency could help Microsoft support AI workloads while protecting Azure margins. Microsoft Custom AI Chips Improve Efficiency
• Positive Sentiment: Azure is expanding in India. Microsoft opened a major Hyderabad data-center region and is committing approximately $20.5 billion to its Indian cloud and AI operations. Early customers include Adani Group and HDFC Bank, supporting the case for long-term international Azure growth. Microsoft Opens Largest India Data Center Hub
• Positive Sentiment: Fundamentals and institutional support remain strong. Microsoft recently exceeded quarterly revenue and EPS expectations, while Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square holds a reported $2.4 billion MSFT position. Scotiabank also raised its fiscal 2027 EPS estimate and maintained an Outperform rating. Bill Ackman Microsoft Stake
• Neutral Sentiment: AI demand is powerful but concentrated. Reports suggest OpenAI may account for a substantial portion of Microsoft’s AI sales, creating both a major growth engine and customer-concentration risk. Microsoft’s large AI backlog also does not guarantee equivalent future profitability.
• Negative Sentiment: Spending, margins and valuation remain concerns. Rising data-center capital expenditures and lower cloud gross margins could pressure cash flow if AI infrastructure costs grow faster than revenue. After the sharp post-earnings rally, the stock is also more vulnerable to profit-taking or disappointing guidance.
• Negative Sentiment: Insider sales and securities litigation add headline risk. CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares for roughly $4.9 million, and multiple law firms are publicizing a securities class action with an August 11 lead-plaintiff deadline. These developments do not establish wrongdoing but may weigh on near-term sentiment.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, July 20th. BNP Paribas Exane dropped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $556.00 to $555.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 1st. DZ Bank reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Truist Financial reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $575.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Forty-two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $558.87.

About Microsoft

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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