Insight Holdings Group LLC Lowers Stock Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Insight Holdings Group LLC trimmed its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 62.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 69,275 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 113,430 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 1.8% of Insight Holdings Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 9th largest position. Insight Holdings Group LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $25,644,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 717,942,580 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $347,211,391,000 after purchasing an additional 15,955,898 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in Microsoft by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 306,150,608 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $148,060,557,000 after purchasing an additional 6,388,930 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted 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 worth $88,056,019,000 after purchasing an additional 1,911,142 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted 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 worth $58,624,690,000 after purchasing an additional 980,439 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $50,664,631,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s latest earnings showed stronger-than-expected profitability and revenue, with Azure growth and Copilot adoption reinforcing the view that substantial AI investment is beginning to generate returns. Hedge funds and institutional investors continue to favor Microsoft over some other mega-cap technology names. Hedge Funds Favor Microsoft Over Meta
• Positive Sentiment: Bernstein raised its Microsoft price target to $660 and maintained an Outperform rating, arguing that Microsoft’s data-center expansion is measured, flexible, and supported by durable cloud demand. Other analysts also identified Azure growth, backlog, and institutional buying as potential catalysts for a year-end rally. Bernstein Raises Microsoft Target
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Microsoft may unveil its Maia 300 AI chip as early as September and secure production capacity for more than 300,000 units could reduce reliance on Nvidia processors, lower long-term AI costs, and support Microsoft’s cloud strategy. Microsoft Maia 300 Chip Report

Microsoft Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $503.81 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.74 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.11. 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 firm’s 50 day moving average is $407.02 and its 200 day moving average is $407.37. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $349.20 and a 1 year high of $553.72.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued 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 net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 31.98%. The business had revenue of $90.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $87.62 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.65 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the business’s 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 directly owned 46,003 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,922,874.02. The trade was a 2.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $496.48, for a total transaction of $2,388,068.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 42,677 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,188,276.96. This represents a 10.13% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 38,572 shares of company stock worth $17,775,330 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on MSFT. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $490.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Argus lowered their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $620.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 10th. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Forty-two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $559.16.

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).