IFM Investors Pty Ltd Has $537.71 Million Stake in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• IFM Investors Pty Ltd increased its Microsoft stake by 3.8% in the first quarter, ending with 1,452,610 shares valued at about $537.7 million. Microsoft is now its third-largest holding and makes up roughly 4.5% of its portfolio.
• Several other institutional investors also added to Microsoft positions, and the stock remains widely held by institutions and hedge funds, which own 71.13% of shares.
• Microsoft reported strong quarterly results, beating expectations on both EPS and revenue, while analysts largely remain positive with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $559.84.

IFM Investors Pty Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 3.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,452,610 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 53,379 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 4.5% of IFM Investors Pty Ltd's portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. IFM Investors Pty Ltd's holdings in Microsoft were worth $537,713,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Taylor Securities Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,616,000. PMG Family Office LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft in the third quarter worth approximately $828,000. Werba Rubin Papier Wealth Management lifted its stake in Microsoft by 15.7% in the fourth quarter. Werba Rubin Papier Wealth Management now owns 12,492 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $6,041,000 after buying an additional 1,698 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2,332.1% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 6,746,017 shares of the software giant's stock worth $3,262,509,000 after buying an additional 6,468,645 shares in the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 22.1% during the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 272,424 shares of the software giant's stock worth $131,750,000 after buying an additional 49,371 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft 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 transaction of $7,145,345.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 110,477 shares of the company's stock, valued at $50,928,792.23. The trade was a 12.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.84, for a total transaction of $1,812,780.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 47,468 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,122,009.12. The trade was a 8.66% 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 valued at $10,508,361 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Argus lowered its price target on Microsoft but kept a buy rating, still implying roughly 32% upside from current levels. Benzinga / The Fly report on Argus price target cut
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and market commentary continue to point to Microsoft’s AI and Azure buildout as a long-term driver, with one piece arguing that AI data centers are effectively “pre-sold,” suggesting strong demand for Microsoft’s infrastructure spending. Article on AI spending returns
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s recent earnings showed the company beat expectations on both revenue and EPS, reinforcing that the core business remains healthy despite the stock’s weak price action.
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft’s Xbox/gaming unit is facing restructuring under Asha Sharma, including layoffs and tough decisions about studio strategy, which adds uncertainty but could improve efficiency over time. FT article on Xbox changes
• Neutral Sentiment: The Federal Reserve named Xbox CEO Asha Sharma to a jobs-and-productivity task force, keeping Microsoft in the policy conversation around AI and labor, but with no immediate financial impact. Yahoo Finance report on Fed task force
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple law firms issued notices about a securities fraud class action tied to alleged AI/Copilot misrepresentations, increasing headline risk and investor caution. PR Newswire lawsuit notice
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Starbucks is building internal AI to replace some Microsoft software underscore a broader threat: customers may use AI to reduce reliance on Microsoft’s enterprise products, which could pressure future software revenue. MarketBeat Starbucks AI cost-cutting article
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft’s AI expansion is also drawing criticism over rising emissions and heavy capital spending, feeding worries that the company is paying more for growth while investors question the payback period. TechXplore emissions report

Microsoft Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT traded up $0.74 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $385.10. 24,605,248 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 44,511,868. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.27. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $349.20 and a 12 month high of $555.45. The company has a market cap of $2.86 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.13. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $402.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $414.58.

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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.06 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $82.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $81.44 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.34% and a return on equity of 31.94%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.46 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Microsoft's payout ratio is presently 21.67%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the topic of a number of research reports. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Microsoft from an "outperform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Arete Research lifted their price target 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. Benchmark reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $525.00 price objective (up from $450.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Citigroup assumed coverage on Microsoft in a research note on Monday, June 1st. They issued a "market outperform" rating for the company. Forty-one investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $559.84.

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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