Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Acquires 241,716 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.4% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 17,983,557 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 241,716 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 6.7% of Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $9,314,599,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 705,077,786 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $350,712,742,000 after acquiring an additional 13,691,572 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 299,196,519 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $148,823,341,000 after acquiring an additional 3,166,275 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 2.0% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 179,001,751 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $88,714,256,000 after acquiring an additional 3,532,054 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at $50,493,678,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $35,316,535,000 after purchasing an additional 11,600,470 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $625.00 to $575.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $640.00 to $620.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Robert W. Baird set a $540.00 target price on Microsoft and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on Microsoft from $660.00 to $635.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $591.95.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $405.76 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.01 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.10. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $432.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $478.00. Microsoft Corporation has a twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $555.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.39.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The software giant reported $4.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.86 by $0.28. The firm had revenue of $81.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $80.28 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.04% and a return on equity of 32.34%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.23 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st will be given a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.76%.

Key Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Copilot Cowork (Anthropic’s Claude) rollout strengthens Microsoft’s enterprise AI roadmap and should drive Azure cloud consumption and seat-based revenue growth. Microsoft taps Anthropic for Copilot Cowork in push for AI agents
• Positive Sentiment: New E7 $99/user Microsoft 365 bundle (Copilot + enterprise agents) could accelerate Copilot adoption, raise ARPU and create stickier recurring revenue. Microsoft adds higher-priced Office tier with Copilot
• Positive Sentiment: Azure AI momentum and the company’s dual-model strategy (supporting both Anthropic and OpenAI models) sustain long-term cloud growth and give Microsoft optionality regardless of which models customers prefer. Microsoft Positioned to Win AI Race With Dual-Model Strategy
• Positive Sentiment: Board declared a quarterly dividend of $0.91 — provides income support and signals capital-return discipline. Microsoft announces quarterly dividend
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft filed an amicus brief supporting Anthropic’s request to pause the Pentagon’s supply-chain designation — this preserves customer access to Claude (and Azure consumption) but keeps MSFT exposed to an evolving regulatory/geopolitical story. Microsoft files amicus brief in support of Anthropic’s lawsuit with US DOD
• Neutral Sentiment: Mixed analyst commentary: some see the YTD pullback as a buying opportunity while others point to slower near-term Copilot enterprise rollouts — expect headline-driven intraday swings. Should You Buy Microsoft At $400?
• Negative Sentiment: Anthropic’s Pentagon dispute (supply‑chain designation and ensuing lawsuit) raises regulatory and policy risk that can spill into Microsoft given the partnership and federal contracting exposure. Anthropic sues to block Pentagon blacklisting
• Negative Sentiment: Sentiment pressure: an EVP disclosed a multi‑million dollar sale (12,321 shares) and short interest rose in February — both can amplify downside in a thin-volume, news-driven session. SEC Form 4 — Kathleen T. Hogan sale

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, Director John W. Stanton purchased 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $397.35 per share, with a total value of $1,986,750.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 83,905 shares in the company, valued at $33,339,651.75. This represents a 6.34% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total value of $5,045,695.92. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 137,933 shares in the company, valued at $56,486,322.16. This trade represents a 8.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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).