Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Epoch Investment Partners reduced its Microsoft position by 4.7% in the first quarter, selling 38,574 shares and retaining 788,663 shares worth approximately $291.9 million. Microsoft remains the fund’s fifth-largest holding and represents about 1.8% of its portfolio.
• Microsoft reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, with earnings per share of $4.74 and revenue of $90.01 billion, up 17.7% year over year. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share, equivalent to a 0.7% annual yield.
• Wall Street remains broadly bullish, with 42 analysts rating the stock a Buy and five assigning a Hold rating; the consensus rating is “Moderate Buy” with a $559.16 price target. Investors continue to focus on Azure and AI growth, including Microsoft’s planned Maia 300 chip, while monitoring AI spending, execution and legal risks.

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 4.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 788,663 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 38,574 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 1.8% of Epoch Investment Partners Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Epoch Investment Partners Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $291,939,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 51.3% in the 2nd quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Bernzott Capital Advisors purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Fairway Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 287.0% in the 4th 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 shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $44,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Trading Up 1.2%

Microsoft stock opened at $506.06 on Tuesday. Microsoft Corporation has a 52-week low of $349.20 and a 52-week high of $553.72. The company has a market cap of $3.76 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.10. 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 business has a 50-day simple moving average of $405.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $406.95.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.50. The firm 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 business's quarterly revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.65 EPS. Analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.58 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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 given a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.27%.

Key Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Maia 300 chip plans support the rally: Reports say Microsoft could unveil its Maia 300 AI accelerator as early as September and secure capacity for more than 300,000 chips by 2027, with longer-term ambitions exceeding one million units. The effort could reduce Microsoft’s dependence on Nvidia, lower AI-computing costs and potentially attract customers such as Anthropic. Microsoft plans to unveil its new Maia 300 AI chip this fall
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts see measured AI investment and further upside: Bernstein raised its Microsoft price target from $647 to $660, arguing that the company is not building data-center capacity too aggressively. The firm said new infrastructure would remain useful for Azure even if AI demand moderated. Microsoft's Datacenter Spending Is Disciplined
• Positive Sentiment: Cloud growth and backlog underpin investor confidence: JPMorgan cited Microsoft’s Azure expansion, substantial backlog and improving AI monetization while supporting higher market-wide earnings forecasts. Other bullish commentary points to strong recent results, including reported Azure growth and broad Copilot adoption. Microsoft Stock Rises as JPMorgan Backs AI Payoff
• Positive Sentiment: Capital returns add support: Microsoft’s large-scale dividends and share repurchases reinforce its position as a cash-generating technology leader, although investors are also evaluating how much capital is being redirected toward AI infrastructure. Microsoft Stock Runs One of the Market's Biggest Cash-Return Machines
• Neutral Sentiment: AI opportunity comes with execution risks: Analysts continue debating whether megacap AI spending will generate adequate cash flow. Separately, reports of AI models reaching real-world systems could increase scrutiny of Microsoft’s autonomous-agent products and enterprise security controls.
• Negative Sentiment: Legal notices remain an overhang: Investor-rights firms are promoting a securities class action involving purchases made between May 1, 2025, and January 28, 2026, with an August 11 lead-plaintiff deadline. The notices do not establish liability but could add reputational and litigation risk.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Microsoft from $625.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Arete Research lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $730.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. HSBC decreased their target price on Microsoft from $593.00 to $571.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $640.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $640.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Forty-two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $559.16.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 transaction of $2,388,068.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 42,677 shares in the company, valued at $21,188,276.96. This trade represents a 10.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $50,928,792.23. The trade was a 12.30% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 38,572 shares of company stock worth $17,775,330. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

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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