Simmons Bank Boosts Stock Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Simmons Bank increased its Microsoft stake by 4.5% in the first quarter, adding 4,318 shares and bringing its total holding to 100,322 shares worth about $37.1 million. Microsoft is now Simmons Bank’s fourth-largest position and makes up roughly 2.5% of its portfolio.
• Microsoft continues to attract strong institutional support, with 71.13% of the stock owned by institutional investors. Large holders like Vanguard, State Street, Geode, Morgan Stanley, and Norges Bank also recently expanded or initiated positions.
• The company beat earnings expectations in its latest quarter, reporting EPS of $4.27 on revenue of $82.89 billion, while also announcing a quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share. Analysts remain broadly positive, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy.”

Simmons Bank raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 4.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 100,322 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 4,318 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 2.5% of Simmons Bank's portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Simmons Bank's holdings in Microsoft were worth $37,136,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 15,955,898 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 306,150,608 shares of the software giant's stock worth $148,060,557,000 after purchasing an additional 6,388,930 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 1.1% during 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 purchasing an additional 1,911,142 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in Microsoft by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 121,220,561 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $58,624,690,000 after purchasing 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. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 47,468 shares in the company, valued at $19,122,009.12. This trade represents a 8.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $18,922,874.02. This represents a 2.67% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 23,762 shares of company stock worth $10,508,361 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

More Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft continues to expand its AI strategy, including a new “Microsoft Frontier Company” unit backed by a $2.5 billion investment and staffed with thousands of industry and engineering experts to help customers adopt AI faster.
• Positive Sentiment: Haleon signed a five-year agreement with Microsoft to deploy agentic AI across global operations, showing that enterprise demand for Microsoft’s cloud and AI tools remains strong.
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s recent earnings beat and revenue growth continue to support the long-term bull case, with the company still viewed as a key beneficiary of enterprise AI adoption.
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft announced its fiscal Q4 2026 earnings date for July 29, which keeps investor focus on upcoming results and guidance.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts and commentators remain split on the stock, with some arguing Microsoft is trading at a rare discount after a steep pullback, while others say heavy AI capital spending is clouding the near-term outlook.
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Microsoft is replacing some OpenAI and Anthropic models with its own in-house AI tools have stirred debate, with investors interpreting it as both a cost-saving move and a sign that Microsoft is trying to control AI expenses more tightly.
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple articles highlighted rising AI infrastructure spending, including concerns that capex is growing faster than margin benefits, which is pressuring sentiment toward MSFT and other hyperscalers.
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft disclosed a 25%–27% jump in greenhouse gas emissions as data center buildout accelerated, adding ESG and execution concerns to the AI expansion story.
• Negative Sentiment: Class-action lawsuit headlines and deadline reminders tied to alleged AI/Copilot misrepresentations are adding legal overhang and investor uncertainty.
• Negative Sentiment: Starbucks’ plan to use its own AI tools to cut software costs from vendors like Microsoft is feeding a broader narrative that large enterprises may eventually reduce third-party software spending.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.3%

MSFT stock opened at $384.36 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.86 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.13. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $349.20 and a 52 week high of $555.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $403.12 and a 200 day moving average of $414.79.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.06 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $82.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $81.44 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.34% and a return on equity of 31.94%. Microsoft's revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.46 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is presently 21.67%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on MSFT. Scotiabank raised shares of Microsoft from an "outperform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday. Wolfe Research cut their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $570.00 to $525.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. BNP Paribas Exane reduced their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $556.00 to $555.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, June 1st. They set a "market outperform" rating for the company. Finally, Dbs Bank lowered their target price on shares of Microsoft from $678.00 to $573.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Forty investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $560.98.

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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