Jennison Associates LLC reduced its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report) by 15.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 17,883,560 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 3,167,730 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 4.6% of Jennison Associates LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Jennison Associates LLC owned 0.24% of Microsoft worth $6,619,957,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in 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 grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 306,150,608 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $148,060,557,000 after buying an additional 6,388,930 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,911,142 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 980,439 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $50,664,631,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Key Microsoft News
Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Azure growth and AI monetization are driving the rally. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue and earnings exceeded expectations, while Azure growth accelerated to approximately 30%. Analysts and commentators said demand for cloud and generative-AI services is beginning to justify the company’s roughly $175 billion in annual spending. Microsoft Just Proved that AI Spending Can Pay Off
- Positive Sentiment: Strong bookings and infrastructure commitments support future revenue. Microsoft’s cloud backlog and more than $100 billion in data-center leases indicate that customers are committing to long-term capacity, giving investors greater confidence in continued Azure and AI expansion. Big Tech’s Cloud Backlog Just Hit $2.3 Trillion
- Positive Sentiment: Wall Street sentiment has improved. Analysts described Microsoft as one of the better-positioned hyperscalers in the AI race, citing its balance sheet, recurring software revenue, free-cash-flow generation and cloud leadership. The post-earnings advance has erased the stock’s prior 2026 losses and renewed expectations for additional upside. Microsoft’s Stock Is on a Run Not Seen in 26 Years
- Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft 365 ecosystem expansion. Paychex launched its WISE workforce-intelligence integration in Microsoft 365 Copilot and Teams, reinforcing Microsoft’s platform reach among small and midsize businesses, although the direct financial impact for MSFT is likely modest. Paychex Brings WISE Workforce Intelligence to Microsoft 365 Copilot and Teams
- Negative Sentiment: Securities litigation remains an overhang. Several law firms publicized a class action concerning alleged misrepresentations about Copilot functionality, AI adoption and Azure growth, with an August 11 lead-plaintiff deadline. The announcements do not establish liability but could increase legal, reputational and disclosure risks. MSFT Shareholder Alert
- Negative Sentiment: Capital spending and free cash flow remain watch points. The scale of AI infrastructure spending could pressure cash flow and returns if monetization slows, even though recent results have eased those concerns. The AI Spending Boom and Free Cash Flow
Insider Transactions at Microsoft
Microsoft Trading Up 4.9%
Shares of MSFT stock opened at $487.65 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.62 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.15, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.10. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $399.37 and a 200-day moving average of $405.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $349.20 and a 1-year high of $553.72.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.50. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.98% and a net margin of 40.31%.The company had revenue of $90.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $87.62 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.65 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.53 earnings per share for the current year.
Microsoft Announces Dividend
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 given a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 20.27%.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Dbs Bank reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $678.00 to $573.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Microsoft from $540.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $640.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $640.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday. Forty-two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $558.64.
View Our Latest Report on MSFT
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).
Featured Articles
- Five stocks we like better than Microsoft
- SpaceX’s First Earnings Report Could Decide Whether Shorts or Bulls Have Control
- Why Rare Earth Processing Could Be the Real 2027 Opportunity
- The S&P 493 Are Staging a Comeback—This Value ETF Offers Broad Exposure
- TSMC Insiders Are Buying the Pullback—But Is the Signal as Bullish as It Looks?
Receive News & Ratings for Microsoft Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Microsoft and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
