Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Stock Holdings Lowered by SRB Corp

Key Points

• SRB Corp cut its Microsoft stake by 16.9% in the first quarter, selling 117,374 shares and retaining 575,549 shares worth approximately $213.1 million. Microsoft remains SRB’s largest holding, while institutional investors collectively own 71.13% of the stock.
• Microsoft reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, with earnings per share of $4.74 and revenue of $90.01 billion, up 17.7% year over year. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share, representing a 0.7% annualized yield.
• Investor sentiment remains broadly positive, supported by Azure growth, AI-chip ambitions and improving AI monetization. Analysts give Microsoft a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating with an average price target of $559.16, although AI-spending execution and legal notices remain risks.

SRB Corp lessened its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 16.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 575,549 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 117,374 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 13.1% of SRB Corp's holdings, making the stock its largest holding. SRB Corp's holdings in Microsoft were worth $213,051,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position 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 buying an additional 15,955,898 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 6,388,930 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake 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 worth $88,056,019,000 after acquiring an additional 1,911,142 shares in 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 acquiring an additional 980,439 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $50,664,631,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 1.2%

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $506.06 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.23. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $349.20 and a one year high of $553.72. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $405.77 and a 200-day simple moving average of $406.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.76 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.10.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.50. Microsoft had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 31.98%. The firm had revenue of $90.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $87.62 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.65 earnings per share. Microsoft's quarterly revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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 dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is presently 20.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $496.48, for a total value of $2,388,068.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 42,677 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,188,276.96. This trade represents a 10.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $487.89, for a total value of $4,878,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 100,447 shares in the company, valued at $49,007,086.83. The trade was a 9.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 38,572 shares of company stock valued at $17,775,330. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Maia 300 chip plans support the rally: Reports say Microsoft could unveil its Maia 300 AI accelerator as early as September and secure capacity for more than 300,000 chips by 2027, with longer-term ambitions exceeding one million units. The effort could reduce Microsoft’s dependence on Nvidia, lower AI-computing costs and potentially attract customers such as Anthropic. Microsoft plans to unveil its new Maia 300 AI chip this fall
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts see measured AI investment and further upside: Bernstein raised its Microsoft price target from $647 to $660, arguing that the company is not building data-center capacity too aggressively. The firm said new infrastructure would remain useful for Azure even if AI demand moderated. Microsoft's Datacenter Spending Is Disciplined
• Positive Sentiment: Cloud growth and backlog underpin investor confidence: JPMorgan cited Microsoft’s Azure expansion, substantial backlog and improving AI monetization while supporting higher market-wide earnings forecasts. Other bullish commentary points to strong recent results, including reported Azure growth and broad Copilot adoption. Microsoft Stock Rises as JPMorgan Backs AI Payoff
• Positive Sentiment: Capital returns add support: Microsoft’s large-scale dividends and share repurchases reinforce its position as a cash-generating technology leader, although investors are also evaluating how much capital is being redirected toward AI infrastructure. Microsoft Stock Runs One of the Market's Biggest Cash-Return Machines
• Neutral Sentiment: AI opportunity comes with execution risks: Analysts continue debating whether megacap AI spending will generate adequate cash flow. Separately, reports of AI models reaching real-world systems could increase scrutiny of Microsoft’s autonomous-agent products and enterprise security controls.
• Negative Sentiment: Legal notices remain an overhang: Investor-rights firms are promoting a securities class action involving purchases made between May 1, 2025, and January 28, 2026, with an August 11 lead-plaintiff deadline. The notices do not establish liability but could add reputational and litigation risk.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on MSFT shares. DZ Bank restated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $575.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Scotiabank reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $510.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $500.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, New Street Research cut their price target on shares of Microsoft from $675.00 to $600.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report 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 company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $559.16.

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).

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.

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