Morningstar Investment Management LLC Has $53.42 Million Stock Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Morningstar Investment Management increased its Microsoft stake by 28.1% in the first quarter, reaching 144,303 shares valued at $53.42 million. Microsoft now represents 3.3% of the firm’s portfolio and is its second-largest holding.
• Microsoft reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $4.74 and revenue of $90.01 billion, beating estimates and growing revenue 17.7% year over year. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $559.16.
• Investor sentiment is supported by Microsoft’s Azure growth, AI-chip plans and disciplined infrastructure spending, though AI execution, litigation notices and recent insider selling remain risks. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share.

Morningstar Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 28.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 144,303 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 31,622 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 3.3% of Morningstar Investment Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Morningstar Investment Management LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $53,417,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 51.3% during the 2nd quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Bernzott Capital Advisors acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. Fairway Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 287.0% in the 4th quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $44,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $506.06 on Tuesday. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $405.77 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $406.95. The firm has a market cap of $3.76 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.18, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.10. 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 52-week low of $349.20 and a 52-week high of $553.72.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $87.62 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.65 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

Key Stories Impacting Microsoft

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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. DZ Bank reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Scotiabank reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $510.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Microsoft from $545.00 to $512.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn cut their target price on Microsoft from $450.00 to $400.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Forty-two 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.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $559.16.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total transaction of $519,111.08. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 46,003 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,922,874.02. This represents a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $496.48, for a total transaction of $2,388,068.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 42,677 shares in the company, valued at $21,188,276.96. This trade represents a 10.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 38,572 shares of company stock worth $17,775,330. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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).

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