Empire Life Investments Inc. Has $68.74 Million Stake in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Empire Life Investments reduced its Microsoft stake by 4.3% in the second quarter, selling 8,294 shares and retaining 184,286 shares valued at $68.74 million. Microsoft represents 3.8% of its portfolio, while institutional investors collectively own 71.13% of the stock.
• Analyst sentiment remains strongly positive: 42 analysts rate Microsoft a Buy, five rate it a Hold, and the consensus rating is “Moderate Buy” with a $569.29 price target. Analysts cited continued Azure and Microsoft 365 momentum, although AI spending, regulation and customer concentration remain risks.
• Microsoft exceeded quarterly expectations with $4.74 in EPS and $90.01 billion in revenue, up 17.7% year over year. The company also raised its quarterly dividend by 8% to $0.98 per share, while insiders sold approximately $71.4 million of stock over the past 90 days.

Empire Life Investments Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 4.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 184,286 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 8,294 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 3.8% of Empire Life Investments Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Empire Life Investments Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $68,742,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Essex LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 16.7% during the second quarter. Essex LLC now owns 15,283 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $5,701,000 after purchasing an additional 2,183 shares in the last quarter. Leelyn Smith LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 6.1% during the second quarter. Leelyn Smith LLC now owns 32,799 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $12,235,000 after buying an additional 1,883 shares during the last quarter. Malaga Cove Capital LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 6.4% during the 2nd quarter. Malaga Cove Capital LLC now owns 5,203 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,941,000 after buying an additional 313 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 226,148 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $84,358,000 after buying an additional 3,641 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rare Wolf Capital LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Rare Wolf Capital LLC now owns 26,731 shares of the software giant's stock worth $9,971,000 after acquiring an additional 573 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on MSFT shares. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their target price on Microsoft from $522.00 to $608.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday. Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating and set a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, September 15th. KeyCorp reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, September 3rd. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Truist Financial restated a "buy" rating and issued a $575.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Forty-two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $569.29.

Trending Headlines about Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts raised their outlook. Oppenheimer increased its Microsoft price target to $570 from $515 while maintaining an Outperform rating, citing sustained Azure and Microsoft 365 commercial momentum into fiscal 2027. Cantor Fitzgerald also reportedly raised its target to $608 and kept an Overweight rating. Oppenheimer Microsoft price target article
• Positive Sentiment: Azure has additional growth levers. BNP Paribas said recent Azure strength may not reflect the full opportunity, pointing to higher pricing as contracts renew, capacity expansion and a potential SpaceX cloud relationship. Azure growth has reportedly reached the mid-40% range, supporting the view that AI infrastructure demand can continue driving revenue. BNP Paribas Azure outlook article
• Positive Sentiment: Capital returns remain supportive. Microsoft raised its quarterly dividend approximately 8% to $0.98 per share, extending its dividend-growth streak to more than two decades. The increase signals management confidence, although the modest yield is unlikely to be the primary stock catalyst. Microsoft dividend increase article
• Neutral Sentiment: OpenAI remains both an opportunity and a concentration risk. Microsoft’s AI partner is reportedly seeking a valuation above $1.2 trillion, potentially reinforcing Microsoft’s Azure and Copilot ecosystem. However, projected cash burn of roughly $278 billion and the company’s reliance on Microsoft-supported infrastructure raise questions about customer durability and AI spending economics. OpenAI valuation and Microsoft article
• Negative Sentiment: Xbox layoffs pressured sentiment. Microsoft is cutting approximately 268 Xbox jobs, with broader reports pointing to roughly 500 affected employees, while shifting the next Halo game to Activision. The move highlights a continuing gaming reset and was the clearest near-term reason for weakness in MSFT shares. Microsoft Xbox restructuring article
• Negative Sentiment: AI execution risks remain. Investors continue to monitor heavy capital spending, copyright and regulatory challenges, and concerns that AI revenue is concentrated among a small number of customers. These risks could pressure margins or the valuation if Azure growth fails to meet elevated expectations.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were 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 directly owned 100,447 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $49,007,086.83. The trade was a 9.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $496.48, for a total transaction of $2,388,068.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 42,677 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,188,276.96. The trade was a 10.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 143,009 shares of company stock worth $71,420,699. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.7%

MSFT stock opened at $498.00 on Wednesday. Microsoft Corporation has a twelve month low of $349.20 and a twelve month high of $553.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.70 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $471.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $424.28.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released 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. The firm had revenue of $90.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $87.62 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 31.98%. The business's revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.65 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 19th will be given a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. This is a boost from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 19th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.27%.

Microsoft Company Profile

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company that develops software, cloud services, devices and digital solutions for consumers, businesses and public-sector organizations. Its products and services include the Windows operating system, Microsoft 365 productivity applications, Teams collaboration software, Dynamics business applications and Azure cloud computing services.

The company also operates LinkedIn, GitHub and Xbox, which includes gaming consoles, video games and related online services.

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