Microsoft Corporation $MSFT is XXEC Inc.’s 3rd Largest Position

Posted by Brian Himes on Jul 12th, 2026

XXEC Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report) by 484.5% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 102,148 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 84,672 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 7.4% of XXEC Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. XXEC Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $37,812,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 51.3% during the second quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Bernzott Capital Advisors acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. Fairway Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 287.0% during the 4th quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth about $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.84, for a total value of $1,812,780.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 47,468 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,122,009.12. This represents a 8.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $50,928,792.23. This trade represents a 12.30% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 23,762 shares of company stock worth $10,508,361. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT traded up $0.74 during trading on Friday, hitting $385.10. 24,605,248 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 44,511,868. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $349.20 and a 1-year high of $555.45. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $402.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $414.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.86 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.92, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.13.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.06 by $0.21. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.34% and a return on equity of 31.94%. The business had revenue of $82.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $81.44 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.46 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be paid a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 21.67%.

Key Headlines Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

Positive Sentiment: Argus lowered its price target on Microsoft but kept a buy rating, still implying roughly 32% upside from current levels. Benzinga / The Fly report on Argus price target cut
Positive Sentiment: Analysts and market commentary continue to point to Microsoft’s AI and Azure buildout as a long-term driver, with one piece arguing that AI data centers are effectively “pre-sold,” suggesting strong demand for Microsoft’s infrastructure spending. Article on AI spending returns
Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s recent earnings showed the company beat expectations on both revenue and EPS, reinforcing that the core business remains healthy despite the stock’s weak price action.
Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft’s Xbox/gaming unit is facing restructuring under Asha Sharma, including layoffs and tough decisions about studio strategy, which adds uncertainty but could improve efficiency over time. FT article on Xbox changes
Neutral Sentiment: The Federal Reserve named Xbox CEO Asha Sharma to a jobs-and-productivity task force, keeping Microsoft in the policy conversation around AI and labor, but with no immediate financial impact. Yahoo Finance report on Fed task force
Negative Sentiment: Multiple law firms issued notices about a securities fraud class action tied to alleged AI/Copilot misrepresentations, increasing headline risk and investor caution. PR Newswire lawsuit notice
Negative Sentiment: Reports that Starbucks is building internal AI to replace some Microsoft software underscore a broader threat: customers may use AI to reduce reliance on Microsoft’s enterprise products, which could pressure future software revenue. MarketBeat Starbucks AI cost-cutting article
Negative Sentiment: Microsoft’s AI expansion is also drawing criticism over rising emissions and heavy capital spending, feeding worries that the company is paying more for growth while investors question the payback period. TechXplore emissions report

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Truist Financial cut their target price on Microsoft from $675.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Tigress Financial upped their price target on Microsoft from $595.00 to $680.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $620.00 to $515.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $500.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Forty-one investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $559.84.

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About Microsoft

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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).