Focused Investors LLC Has $177.46 Million Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Focused Investors LLC boosted its Microsoft stake by 56.4% in the first quarter, buying 172,800 additional shares and bringing its holding to 479,400 shares worth about $177.46 million.
• Microsoft posted strong quarterly results, with EPS of $4.27 beating estimates and revenue of $82.89 billion topping forecasts, while revenue rose 18.3% year over year.
• The stock continues to draw bullish AI-related attention, but sentiment is mixed due to legal headlines, skepticism over quantum-computing claims, and concerns that heavy AI infrastructure spending could pressure margins and free cash flow.

Focused Investors LLC raised its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 56.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 479,400 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 172,800 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 5.8% of Focused Investors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Focused Investors LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $177,459,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. WFA Asset Management Corp boosted its position in Microsoft by 27.0% during the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $427,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant's stock worth $5,658,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 410.4% in the 3rd quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 2,659 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,144,000 after acquiring an additional 2,138 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. now owns 2,374 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,000,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the period. Finally, Eagle Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 23,097 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $9,735,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $365.12 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $411.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $422.73. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $356.28 and a one year high of $555.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.71 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.73, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.11.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.06 by $0.21. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.94% and a net margin of 39.34%.The business had revenue of $82.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $81.44 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.46 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 20th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.67%.

Key Stories Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft continues to be framed as a long-term AI winner, with commentary highlighting strong Azure growth, a multi-billion-dollar AI revenue run rate, and the company’s deep role in enterprise AI adoption. Got $1,000? 2 Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stocks to Buy Right Now and Hold for the Next Decade.
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s new 20-year Chevron power deal for a Texas AI data center reinforces confidence that it is still expanding aggressively to support future AI demand, which could help drive long-term cloud revenue. Microsoft Stock In Focus After Inking 20-Yr, 2.67 GW Power Deal With Chevron To Fuel AI Growth
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is also getting support from bullish market commentary that says the stock may be oversold and could rebound as investors distinguish between short-term pressure and long-term fundamentals. Dan Ives Believes MSFT Is The Most Oversold Large-Cap Stock, Draws Parallels To 'Negative' Narratives Around GOOGL A Year Ago
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft announced a new AI-in-education report and related tools, but this is more of a product/marketing update than a material near-term earnings driver. Microsoft's New AI in Education Report highlights widespread adoption and increasing demand for support
• Negative Sentiment: Fresh legal headlines are pressuring sentiment, as multiple law firms publicized securities class action claims tied to alleged investor harm and Copilot-related disclosures. Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman LLC Urges Microsoft Corporation Investors to Act: Class Action Filed Alleging Investor Harm
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft is facing renewed skepticism around its quantum-computing claims after a Nature-linked critique questioned the scientific basis of its earlier breakthrough announcement. Microsoft's quantum computing technology called into question, again
• Negative Sentiment: Investors are also reacting to broader concerns that heavy AI infrastructure spending could weigh on free cash flow and margin trends, even if it supports future growth. Chamath Says Alphabet, Meta and Microsoft Aren’t Bleeding Cash — They’re Building Moats

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. President Capital raised their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Microsoft from $575.00 to $505.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Benchmark reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $525.00 price objective (up from $450.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $500.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Forty-one equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $561.20.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.99, for a total value of $7,145,345.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 110,477 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $50,928,792.23. This trade represents a 12.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total transaction of $519,111.08. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 46,003 shares of the company's stock, valued at $18,922,874.02. This trade represents a 2.67% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 23,762 shares of company stock worth $10,508,361 in the last ninety days. Corporate 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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