Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Purchased by Munro Partners

Munro Partners raised its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 11.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 384,475 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 38,072 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 4.8% of Munro Partners’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Munro Partners’ holdings in Microsoft were worth $185,940,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $50,664,631,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft in the 1st quarter valued at $18,733,827,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 500.0% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 59,543,261 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $30,840,432,000 after acquiring an additional 49,618,571 shares during the period. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 49,640.3% in the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 29,967,038 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $14,905,904,000 after acquiring an additional 29,906,791 shares during the period. Finally, Cardano Risk Management B.V. raised its stake in Microsoft by 908.5% in the 4th quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 23,568,250 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $11,398,077,000 after acquiring an additional 21,231,333 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $393.83 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.93 trillion, a PE ratio of 23.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.11. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $412.01 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $427.45. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $356.28 and a fifty-two week high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.46 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.67%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on MSFT shares. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Microsoft from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $502.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and issued a $540.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Finally, Arete Research upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $730.00 to $870.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Forty-one analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $561.20.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 46,003 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,922,874.02. This trade represents a 2.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.99, for a total transaction of $7,145,345.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 110,477 shares in the company, valued at $50,928,792.23. This represents a 12.30% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 23,762 shares of company stock worth $10,508,361. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft launched a new AI agent with pay-as-you-go pricing, a shift that could improve monetization and help the company capture more revenue as customers adopt usage-based AI tools.
• Positive Sentiment: Reports say Microsoft is exploring lower-cost AI model options for Copilot, which could reduce infrastructure costs and improve profitability if implemented successfully.
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s product and AI roadmap continues to attract long-term bulls, with analysts and investors still pointing to the company’s strong enterprise position and AI-driven growth potential.
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft was reported to have held talks for a $3 billion Oracle cloud infrastructure lease, but the deal reportedly collapsed over security and compliance issues, limiting any near-term impact on operations.
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage around a possible Xbox restructuring or spin-off highlights strategic uncertainty in gaming, though it could eventually improve Microsoft’s overall margin profile if the division is separated or reshaped.
• Negative Sentiment: Shareholders filed a class action and securities-fraud investigations were announced over alleged misstatements tied to Azure growth and AI spending, creating legal and reputational overhang for Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT).
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Microsoft may shut down or restructure Xbox studios add to concerns that the gaming segment is a drag on profitability and could require more restructuring costs.
• Negative Sentiment: Recent commentary also points to heavy AI capital expenditures and softer Azure growth, reinforcing investor worries that Microsoft’s spending is rising faster than its cloud revenue growth.

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).