MASTERINVEST Kapitalanlage GmbH Reduces Stock Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• MASTERINVEST Kapitalanlage GmbH reduced its Microsoft stake by 2.9% in the first quarter, selling 3,517 shares and retaining 115,704 shares worth approximately $42.83 million. Microsoft remains the firm’s second-largest holding and represents 4.4% of its portfolio.
• Microsoft reported a strong quarter, with adjusted EPS of $4.74 and revenue of $90.01 billion, both ahead of analyst estimates. Azure revenue grew 43%, annual Azure revenue exceeded $100 billion, and paid Microsoft 365 Copilot seats surpassed 30 million.
• Wall Street remains broadly bullish, with 42 analysts rating the stock Buy and five rating it Hold; the consensus is Moderate Buy with a $558.64 price target. Microsoft also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share, equivalent to a 0.8% annual yield.

MASTERINVEST Kapitalanlage GmbH cut its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 2.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 115,704 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 3,517 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 4.4% of MASTERINVEST Kapitalanlage GmbH's holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. MASTERINVEST Kapitalanlage GmbH's holdings in Microsoft were worth $42,830,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. WFA Asset Management Corp grew its holdings in Microsoft by 27.0% in the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant's stock worth $427,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the period. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% during the second quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $5,658,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC boosted 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 purchasing an additional 2,138 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. grew 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 worth $1,000,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Capital Management LLC grew 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 worth $9,735,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Citizens Jmp reiterated a "market outperform" rating and set a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday. Wolfe Research reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday. TD Cowen restated a "buy" rating and set a $540.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $515.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, DZ Bank reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Forty-two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $558.64.

Microsoft Stock Up 15.5%

Microsoft stock opened at $451.10 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.35 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.12, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.13. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $397.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $405.54. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $349.20 and a 12 month high of $555.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.50. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.07% and a net margin of 40.31%.The firm had revenue of $90.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $87.62 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.65 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.28 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 20.27%.

Microsoft News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Azure growth exceeded expectations: Azure revenue increased 43%, ahead of roughly 40% analyst expectations, and annual Azure revenue surpassed $100 billion for the first time. The performance eased concerns that demand for AI infrastructure might be slowing. Microsoft tops quarterly cloud growth estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Strong earnings beat: Microsoft reported $4.74 in adjusted EPS versus a $4.24 consensus estimate and $90.01 billion in revenue versus expectations of $87.62 billion. Revenue rose 17.7% year over year, while profit increased about 31%. Microsoft fourth-quarter earnings
• Positive Sentiment: AI monetization is accelerating: Microsoft 365 Copilot surpassed 30 million paid seats, while management described the next growth phase as a “per seat plus consumption” model. Investors viewed Azure and Copilot adoption as evidence that AI investments are translating into commercial demand.
• Positive Sentiment: Spending concerns moderated: Microsoft held its capital-expenditure outlook broadly steady and said it expects continued cash generation in fiscal 2027. Management also said GPU spending could be adjusted if demand weakens, helping counter fears of unchecked AI-related cash burn. Microsoft keeps capex forecast unchanged
• Positive Sentiment: Backlog and analyst support improved: Commercial remaining performance obligations reached a record $678 billion, up 84% year over year. RBC, Goldman Sachs, BMO, TD Cowen and DA Davidson were among firms maintaining positive ratings or raising targets.
• Neutral Sentiment: Xbox strategy: New gaming chief Asha Sharma aims to exceed peers’ margins by 2030 through Minecraft investment and partnerships, including in China. The plan could support longer-term profitability but remains execution-dependent. Microsoft Xbox margin plan
• Negative Sentiment: Risks remain: Wiz reported a cloud vulnerability that could have exposed Microsoft customers, while U.K. regulators are investigating Microsoft 365 subscription marketing. Several securities-fraud law firms also publicized shareholder lawsuits. These developments are potential overhangs, although they did not offset the earnings-driven optimism.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total value of $519,111.08. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 46,003 shares in the company, valued at $18,922,874.02. The trade was a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.99, for a total transaction 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 $50,928,792.23. This represents a 12.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 in the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Microsoft Company 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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