Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Stock Holdings Lifted by DUTCH ASSET Corp

Key Points

• DUTCH ASSET Corp increased its Microsoft stake by 70.9% in the first quarter, ending with 15,938 shares valued at approximately $5.9 million. Institutional investors collectively own 71.13% of Microsoft.
• Microsoft reported strong quarterly results, with $90.01 billion in revenue and $4.74 in EPS, beating analyst estimates; revenue grew 17.7% year over year. Azure and AI demand remain key growth drivers, including expansion of Microsoft’s data-center footprint in India.
• Analysts remain broadly positive, with 42 Buy ratings and a consensus target price of $558.87, though OpenAI concentration, rising AI infrastructure costs, and recent insider selling represent potential risks. Microsoft also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share.

DUTCH ASSET Corp increased its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 70.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,938 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 6,613 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 4.0% of DUTCH ASSET Corp's portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. DUTCH ASSET Corp's holdings in Microsoft were worth $5,900,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 717,942,580 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $347,211,391,000 after purchasing an additional 15,955,898 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 306,150,608 shares of the software giant's stock worth $148,060,557,000 after buying an additional 6,388,930 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 182,618,400 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $88,056,019,000 after buying an additional 1,911,142 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 121,220,561 shares of the software giant's stock worth $58,624,690,000 after buying an additional 980,439 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $50,664,631,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Azure and AI growth are the main catalysts. Azure revenue surpassed $100 billion for fiscal 2026, while fourth-quarter cloud revenue increased 43%. Microsoft also exceeded quarterly revenue and earnings expectations, supporting optimism that AI demand is translating into recurring cloud and enterprise revenue. Microsoft Azure Fiscal 2026 Sales Exceed $100B
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is expanding its AI infrastructure footprint in India. The company opened its largest Indian data-center hub in Hyderabad and signed early customers including Adani Group and HDFC Bank. Microsoft has committed approximately $20.5 billion to its Indian operations, positioning Azure for growth in a large and rapidly developing market. Microsoft Opens Its Largest India Data Center Hub
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street remains constructive. Analysts have raised price targets, including Tigress Financial’s $690 target, citing durable AI and cloud growth. Microsoft’s strong balance sheet, recurring software revenue and approximately $0.91 quarterly dividend also provide support for the long-term investment case. Tigress Raises Microsoft Price Target
• Neutral Sentiment: OpenAI is a significant growth engine but also a concentration risk. Reports estimate that OpenAI may account for roughly 70% of Microsoft’s AI revenue. The relationship boosts near-term demand, but reliance on one partner could increase volatility if economics, technology preferences or customer concentration change. OpenAI May Account for 70 Percent of Microsoft AI Revenue
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling and legal notices may temper sentiment. CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares worth about $4.9 million, following EVP Takeshi Numoto’s sale of approximately $2.4 million. Multiple law firms are also promoting a securities class action with an August 11 lead-plaintiff deadline. These items do not establish wrongdoing, but they can add near-term headline pressure.
• Negative Sentiment: AI investment is increasing execution and margin risks. Large data-center commitments and infrastructure spending are necessary to support demand, but could pressure free cash flow and margins if capacity is built ahead of revenue or component shortages delay deployments. Microsoft’s valuation also leaves less room for disappointment after its sharp rally.

Microsoft Stock Up 2.5%

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $499.86 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $349.20 and a 52 week high of $553.72. The stock's fifty day moving average is $403.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $406.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.71 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.50. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.98% 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 quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.65 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.56 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be paid a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.27%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Scotiabank reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $510.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Wolfe Research reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Microsoft from $540.00 to $500.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, DZ Bank reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Forty-two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $558.87.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $496.48, for a total value of $2,388,068.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 42,677 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,188,276.96. This trade represents a 10.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total value of $519,111.08. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 46,003 shares in the company, valued at $18,922,874.02. This represents a 2.67% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 38,572 shares of company stock valued at $17,775,330. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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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