Czech National Bank Grows Stock Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Czech National Bank increased its Microsoft stake by 4.6% in the second quarter, bringing its holdings to 2.11 million shares valued at approximately $788.7 million. Microsoft now represents about 4.3% of the bank’s portfolio and is its third-largest position.
• Microsoft reported quarterly earnings of $4.74 per share on $90.01 billion in revenue, exceeding analyst expectations, with revenue up 17.7% year over year. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus, supported by 42 Buy ratings and an average price target of $560.27.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share, or $3.64 annualized, yielding approximately 0.8%. Despite strong cloud and AI demand, investors remain focused on whether rising capital spending and lower free cash flow will generate sufficient returns.

Czech National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,114,417 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 92,079 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 4.3% of Czech National Bank's holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Czech National Bank's holdings in Microsoft were worth $788,720,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position 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 worth $347,211,391,000 after purchasing an additional 15,955,898 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted 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 period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased 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 increased 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 acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth about $50,664,631,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on MSFT. Arete Research upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $730.00 to $870.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and set a $575.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. President Capital upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $520.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $640.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on Microsoft from $545.00 to $512.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Forty-two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $560.27.

Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT stock opened at $483.24 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $419.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $409.30. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $349.20 and a 52 week high of $553.72. The stock has a market cap of $3.59 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.23.

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, beating 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 analyst estimates of $87.62 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.65 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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 given a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.27%.

Microsoft News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is reportedly preparing to launch its Maia 300 AI accelerator as soon as this fall and is discussing production with TSMC. Developing proprietary chips could reduce long-term reliance on Nvidia, improve supply-chain control, and support Microsoft’s expanding AI infrastructure. Microsoft’s Betting Big on Its Own AI Chips
• Positive Sentiment: Meta has reportedly become one of Microsoft’s largest Azure AI customers, spending hundreds of millions of dollars annually and consuming substantial computing capacity. The relationship reinforces evidence that enterprise demand is translating into Azure revenue. Meta Emerges as a Major Microsoft Azure AI Client
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft raised its quarterly dividend to $0.91 per share, while Azure revenue reportedly surpassed $100 billion. Analysts and financial commentators also highlighted a roughly $678 billion backlog and continued strong demand for cloud and AI services. Microsoft Raises Dividend as AI Capital Spending Hits Record Levels
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft approved the Horizon 1 Texas data-center project involving IREN, potentially expanding capacity available for AI workloads. The development is strategically relevant, although the near-term financial benefit to Microsoft remains unclear. Microsoft Accepts Horizon 1
• Negative Sentiment: Annual capital spending has climbed nearly 80% to about $115.9 billion, while free cash flow declined. Investors remain focused on whether AI revenue growth will generate adequate returns on this spending. Microsoft Spent $115.9 Billion on AI
• Negative Sentiment: TCI Management reportedly exited its Microsoft position and increased its Alphabet stake, adding a notable institutional-selling signal. Separately, commentary warned that Microsoft’s valuation depends on optimistic earnings forecasts, while higher bond yields could reduce the present value of future AI profits. TCI Exits Microsoft

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $496.48, for a total value of $2,388,068.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 42,677 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $21,188,276.96. The trade was a 10.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $487.89, for a total transaction of $4,878,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 100,447 shares of the company's stock, valued at $49,007,086.83. This represents a 9.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 37,310 shares of company stock valued at $17,256,219. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

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).

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