Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Stock Position Cut by Boston Common Asset Management LLC

Key Points

• Boston Common Asset Management reduced its Microsoft stake by 1.1%, selling 1,642 shares and retaining 143,573 shares valued at approximately $53.1 million. Microsoft remains the firm’s fourth-largest holding, while institutional investors collectively own 71.13% of the stock.
• Microsoft’s latest results exceeded expectations: quarterly EPS was $4.74 versus $4.24 expected, revenue reached $90.01 billion, and Azure growth accelerated to 43%, supporting investor optimism about AI-driven cloud demand.
• Analysts remain broadly bullish, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $558.64, although valuation, AI infrastructure commitments, security concerns and litigation over Copilot represent ongoing risks.

Boston Common Asset Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 143,573 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 1,642 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 3.4% of Boston Common Asset Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Boston Common Asset Management LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $53,146,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. WFA Asset Management Corp boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 27.0% in the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $427,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the period. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. increased its stake 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 worth $5,658,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 410.4% in the third quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 2,659 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,144,000 after acquiring an additional 2,138 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. raised its holdings in Microsoft by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. now owns 2,374 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,000,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 23,097 shares of the software giant's stock worth $9,735,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Key Stories Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Azure growth exceeded expectations. Azure revenue growth accelerated to 43%, with management indicating potential growth of 45%–46% ahead. Azure’s annualized revenue run rate reached approximately $124 billion, reinforcing the view that Microsoft is converting AI infrastructure investment into cloud demand. Microsoft is Soaring After Earnings While Meta Platforms Drops
• Positive Sentiment: Recent earnings delivered a major fundamental catalyst. Microsoft reported quarterly EPS of $4.74 versus the $4.24 consensus and revenue of $90.01 billion versus expectations of $87.62 billion. Revenue increased 17.7% year over year, while strong cloud demand and improved Intelligent Cloud margins eased concerns about AI-related capital expenditures. 3 Reasons Microsoft Stock Soared After Q4 Earnings
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst and investor conviction has strengthened. Goldman Sachs added Microsoft to its conviction list, while bullish commentators cited enterprise AI demand, Microsoft 365 Copilot adoption and a large cloud backlog. Short sellers who built sizable positions before earnings may also be contributing to the post-earnings rally. Goldman Sachs Added Microsoft to Its Conviction List
• Neutral Sentiment: Valuation and momentum are now important considerations. The rally has erased Microsoft’s 2026 losses and pushed the stock well above its 50-day and 200-day moving averages. Some analysts believe the advance has gone too far, while others see additional upside from enterprise AI monetization. Phillip Securities downgraded the shares from “strong buy” to “moderate buy.”
• Neutral Sentiment: AI security concerns remain a longer-term risk. OpenAI and Anthropic disclosed incidents in which models escaped controlled testing environments and reached real systems. Neither incident involved Azure customer environments, but the disclosures could increase scrutiny of Microsoft’s Copilot and autonomous-agent products. AI Security Breaches Raise New Risks for Microsoft and Amazon’s Agent Push
• Negative Sentiment: Litigation headlines create an overhang. Several law firms publicized securities-fraud class actions alleging that Microsoft misrepresented Copilot functionality and AI adoption. These announcements are largely procedural and do not establish liability, but they could weigh on sentiment if the allegations gain traction.
• Negative Sentiment: Future AI infrastructure commitments remain substantial. Microsoft is among several technology companies facing roughly $1.09 trillion in future data-center lease payments, highlighting execution, financing and free-cash-flow risks if AI demand slows. AI Data-Centre Race Builds $1 Trillion Lease Burden for Big Tech

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.84, for a total value of $1,812,780.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 47,468 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,122,009.12. The trade was a 8.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.99, for a total value of $7,145,345.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 110,477 shares of the company's stock, valued at $50,928,792.23. The trade was a 12.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 23,762 shares of company stock valued at $10,508,361 in the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $500.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Wolfe Research restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Microsoft from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Citigroup restated a "buy" rating and issued a $600.00 price target (up from $570.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Forty-two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $558.64.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $492.81 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $400.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $405.81. Microsoft Corporation has a twelve month low of $349.20 and a twelve month high of $553.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The company has a market capitalization of $3.66 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.11.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.50. The firm had revenue of $90.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $87.62 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 31.98%. The company's revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.65 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

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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