Magellan Asset Management Ltd Raises Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Magellan Asset Management Ltd grew its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,263,231 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 32,613 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 7.4% of Magellan Asset Management Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Magellan Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $610,924,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MSFT. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC raised its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Bernzott Capital Advisors acquired a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Fairway Wealth LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 287.0% during the fourth 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. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft during the third quarter worth approximately $49,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Key Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Investors are showing bullish sentiment toward Microsoft, with unusually heavy buying in long-dated call options suggesting some traders expect upside from here. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft announced a quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share, reinforcing its cash-generation and shareholder-return profile. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: MN8 Energy said two solar projects totaling 260 MW are now online under long-term power purchase agreements with Microsoft, supporting its AI/data-center infrastructure needs. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft is expanding AI and cloud partnerships, including new agentic AI collaborations and Copilot-related deployments, which supports the long-term growth narrative but also underscores ongoing AI spending pressure. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft is reportedly cutting hundreds of jobs in its Azure unit in China, highlighting regulatory friction and weaker operating conditions in a key market. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Xbox is planning major layoffs and budget cuts next month are adding to concerns about slower growth and restructuring costs in Microsoft’s gaming division. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft is also limiting employee use of Anthropic’s Claude Fable 5 over data-retention concerns, a reminder of the risks and competitive tensions around AI tools and partners. Article Title

Microsoft Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $397.36 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The stock has a market cap of $2.95 trillion, a P/E ratio of 23.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.11. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $410.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $429.80. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $356.28 and a 1 year high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.06 by $0.21. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.94% and a net margin of 39.34%.The business had revenue of $82.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $81.44 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.46 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total transaction of $519,111.08. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 46,003 shares in the company, valued at $18,922,874.02. This represents a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.99, for a total value 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. The trade was a 12.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 19,262 shares of company stock worth $8,695,581 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Microsoft from $540.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. China Renaissance lowered their price target on Microsoft from $630.00 to $550.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 4th. HSBC lowered their price target on Microsoft from $593.00 to $571.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. New Street Research decreased their target price on Microsoft from $675.00 to $600.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Evercore decreased their target price on Microsoft from $580.00 to $510.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Forty-one equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $561.20.

About Microsoft

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).