Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Bought by Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.

Key Points

• Mirae Asset Global Investments increased its Microsoft stake by 10.1% in the fourth quarter, buying 341,921 additional shares and bringing its holding to 3,732,578 shares worth about $1.8 billion.
• Microsoft also saw mixed insider activity: Director John W. Stanton bought 5,000 shares, while EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares in a later transaction.
• Analysts remain broadly positive after Microsoft’s earnings beat, with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $562.69; the company also reported quarterly EPS of $4.27 and revenue growth of 18.3% year over year.

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 10.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,732,578 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 341,921 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 5.0% of Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. owned about 0.05% of Microsoft worth $1,805,149,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 51.3% in the second quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the third quarter worth $38,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the third quarter worth $49,000. University of Illinois Foundation bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter worth $50,000. Finally, Daytona Street Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $50,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, Director John W. Stanton acquired 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $397.35 per share, for a total transaction of $1,986,750.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 83,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $33,339,651.75. This trade represents a 6.34% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total transaction of $5,045,695.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 137,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,486,322.16. This represents a 8.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on MSFT shares. President Capital boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Scotiabank cut their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $550.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Melius Research set a $430.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, February 9th. DZ Bank reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, April 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $562.69.

Key Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft continues to draw bullish analyst commentary, with multiple firms raising or reaffirming price targets after the company’s strong earnings beat and Azure growth, reinforcing the view that core business momentum remains solid.
• Positive Sentiment: New reports suggest Microsoft’s AI ecosystem is still gaining traction, including partner milestones tied to Copilot and AI cloud services, which supports the case for continued enterprise adoption.
• Positive Sentiment: Several hedge funds and asset managers have recently added to Microsoft positions, indicating that some large investors still view MSFT as a long-term AI and cloud leader.
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft partnered with CAISI and AISI to advance AI model testing standards, a policy-and-safety focused update that may help its enterprise credibility but is unlikely to move the stock on its own.
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports that Microsoft is considering adjustments to its renewable-energy targets and offering voluntary retirement packages reflect ongoing cost and infrastructure pressures, but these items are more strategic than immediately material to revenue.
• Negative Sentiment: Market attention is centered on TCI’s reduced stake and the broader “AI anxiety” trade, with investors worried Microsoft may be spending heavily on AI infrastructure before the payoff becomes clearer.
• Negative Sentiment: Some commentary also points to temporary margin pressure from elevated AI and data-center spending, which could weigh on near-term profitability even as growth remains strong.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $415.00 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $396.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $445.39. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $356.28 and a 1 year high of $555.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.08 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.10.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted 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 net margin of 39.34% and a return on equity of 31.94%. The firm had revenue of $82.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $81.44 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.46 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be issued a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. Microsoft's payout ratio is currently 21.67%.

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).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.