Microsoft Corporation $MSFT is Candriam S.C.A.'s 2nd Largest Position

Candriam S.C.A. boosted its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 3.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,678,207 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 88,757 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 5.2% of Candriam S.C.A.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Candriam S.C.A.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $991,392,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $50,664,631,000. Auto Owners Insurance Co boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 56,160.8% during the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 60,116,384 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $29,073,486,000 after purchasing an additional 60,009,531 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the first quarter valued at $18,733,827,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 500.0% in the third quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 59,543,261 shares of the software giant's stock worth $30,840,432,000 after purchasing an additional 49,618,571 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 49,640.3% in the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 29,967,038 shares of the software giant's stock worth $14,905,904,000 after buying an additional 29,906,791 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 directly owned 110,477 shares in the company, valued at $50,928,792.23. This represents a 12.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.84, for a total value of $1,812,780.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 47,468 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,122,009.12. The trade was a 8.66% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 23,762 shares of company stock worth $10,508,361 in the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Microsoft News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft joined 25 tech companies in urging U.S. policymakers not to impose broad restrictions on open-weight and open-source AI models, a stance that supports its broader AI ecosystem strategy and could help preserve flexibility for future product development. Reuters article
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft also backed a coalition letter with Nvidia, Meta, and other firms arguing that open-weight AI is important for U.S. leadership, reinforcing investor confidence that the company remains a major AI platform player rather than being boxed into one model provider. Business Insider article
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s expanded Databricks partnership extends a key cloud/data-AI relationship through the 2030s, which should help Azure adoption and strengthen long-term enterprise demand for Microsoft’s cloud services. TipRanks article
• Neutral Sentiment: Several previews ahead of Microsoft’s July 29 earnings report say the big investor focus will be FY2027 CapEx guidance and Azure growth, with analysts expecting strong results but worrying that AI infrastructure spending could weigh on free cash flow and margins. MarketBeat article
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple law firms issued class-action alerts and deadline reminders tied to Microsoft securities-fraud claims, including allegations related to Copilot disclosures, which adds headline risk and may keep some investors cautious into earnings. GlobeNewswire article
• Negative Sentiment: Broader tech weakness tied to AI spending fears also weighed on Microsoft, as investors sold mega-cap names after seeing massive capital outlays across the sector and questioning near-term returns on AI investment. Fox Business article

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $381.70 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.84 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.13. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $398.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $408.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.28. Microsoft Corporation has a 52-week low of $349.20 and a 52-week high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.06 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $82.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $81.44 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.34% and a return on equity of 31.94%. Microsoft's revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.46 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be given a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. Microsoft's payout ratio is presently 21.67%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. HSBC decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $593.00 to $571.00 in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $586.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. New Street Research decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $675.00 to $600.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Wolfe Research lowered their price target on Microsoft from $570.00 to $525.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday. Forty-two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $555.40.

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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