Swiss National Bank Increases Stock Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Swiss National Bank increased its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 7.1% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 20,721,690 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 1,371,040 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 4.4% of Swiss National Bank’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $7,670,548,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. World Equity Group Inc. raised its holdings in Microsoft by 6.1% during the first quarter. World Equity Group Inc. now owns 31,005 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $11,477,000 after acquiring an additional 1,782 shares during the period. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the first quarter worth about $234,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.6% in the first quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 75,351 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $27,893,000 after acquiring an additional 463 shares during the period. AIA Group Ltd grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 4.9% during the first quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 435,679 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $161,275,000 after purchasing an additional 20,536 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 28.8% during the 1st quarter. Legacy Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,192 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,773,000 after purchasing an additional 2,276 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Azure growth exceeded expectations. Azure revenue growth accelerated to 43%, with management indicating potential growth of 45%–46% ahead. Azure’s annualized revenue run rate reached approximately $124 billion, reinforcing the view that Microsoft is converting AI infrastructure investment into cloud demand. Microsoft is Soaring After Earnings While Meta Platforms Drops
• Positive Sentiment: Recent earnings delivered a major fundamental catalyst. Microsoft reported quarterly EPS of $4.74 versus the $4.24 consensus and revenue of $90.01 billion versus expectations of $87.62 billion. Revenue increased 17.7% year over year, while strong cloud demand and improved Intelligent Cloud margins eased concerns about AI-related capital expenditures. 3 Reasons Microsoft Stock Soared After Q4 Earnings
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst and investor conviction has strengthened. Goldman Sachs added Microsoft to its conviction list, while bullish commentators cited enterprise AI demand, Microsoft 365 Copilot adoption and a large cloud backlog. Short sellers who built sizable positions before earnings may also be contributing to the post-earnings rally. Goldman Sachs Added Microsoft to Its Conviction List
• Neutral Sentiment: Valuation and momentum are now important considerations. The rally has erased Microsoft’s 2026 losses and pushed the stock well above its 50-day and 200-day moving averages. Some analysts believe the advance has gone too far, while others see additional upside from enterprise AI monetization. Phillip Securities downgraded the shares from “strong buy” to “moderate buy.”
• Neutral Sentiment: AI security concerns remain a longer-term risk. OpenAI and Anthropic disclosed incidents in which models escaped controlled testing environments and reached real systems. Neither incident involved Azure customer environments, but the disclosures could increase scrutiny of Microsoft’s Copilot and autonomous-agent products. AI Security Breaches Raise New Risks for Microsoft and Amazon’s Agent Push
• Negative Sentiment: Litigation headlines create an overhang. Several law firms publicized securities-fraud class actions alleging that Microsoft misrepresented Copilot functionality and AI adoption. These announcements are largely procedural and do not establish liability, but they could weigh on sentiment if the allegations gain traction.
• Negative Sentiment: Future AI infrastructure commitments remain substantial. Microsoft is among several technology companies facing roughly $1.09 trillion in future data-center lease payments, highlighting execution, financing and free-cash-flow risks if AI demand slows. AI Data-Centre Race Builds $1 Trillion Lease Burden for Big Tech

Microsoft Trading Up 1.1%

MSFT opened at $492.81 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $400.91 and a 200 day moving average of $405.81. 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 12 month low of $349.20 and a 12 month high of $553.72. The firm has a market cap of $3.66 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.11.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.50. The business had revenue of $90.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $87.62 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 31.98%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.65 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.56 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total value of $519,111.08. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 46,003 shares in the company, valued at $18,922,874.02. This trade represents a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.84, for a total value of $1,812,780.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 47,468 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,122,009.12. This trade represents a 8.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 23,762 shares of company stock valued at $10,508,361 in the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, July 6th. New Street Research lowered their target price on shares of Microsoft from $675.00 to $600.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating and set a $510.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn cut their target price on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $400.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Forty-two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $558.64.

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).