Microsoft Corporation $MSFT is Xponance LLC’s 3rd Largest Position

Xponance LLC increased its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,867,496 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 37,204 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 6.8% of Xponance LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Xponance LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $903,158,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Microsoft by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 717,942,580 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $347,211,391,000 after acquiring an additional 15,955,898 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in Microsoft by 1.1% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 299,196,519 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $148,823,341,000 after acquiring an additional 3,166,275 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 1.1% in 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 acquiring an additional 1,911,142 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $50,664,631,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Microsoft by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $35,316,535,000 after acquiring an additional 11,600,470 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft continues to win business tied to AI infrastructure, including a new 260 MW solar supply deal for its power needs, supporting long-term cloud growth. MN8 Energy Delivers 260 MW of Solar to Microsoft Across Two U.S. Power Markets
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft declared a quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share, reinforcing shareholder returns and signaling financial strength. Microsoft announces quarterly dividend
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain upbeat on Microsoft’s AI strategy, with recent coverage calling MSFT a long-term buying opportunity as it expands Copilot and agentic AI. Microsoft Remains A Generational Buying Opportunity In The Agentic AI Era
• Neutral Sentiment: CEO Satya Nadella’s comments about using the right AI model for the job suggest a push for efficiency, but also highlight Microsoft’s effort to control AI compute costs. Satya Nadella Warns Against AI Overuse
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft’s limits on Anthropic’s Claude usage point to tighter AI governance, but the direct financial impact appears limited for now. Microsoft limits employee use of Anthropic’s Claude Fable 5
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Xbox is preparing major layoffs and a reset add to concerns about cost pressure and slower growth in gaming. Microsoft’s Xbox plans for major layoffs next month
• Negative Sentiment: News that Microsoft is cutting jobs in its Azure unit in China is weighing on sentiment around near-term cloud execution and geopolitical risk. Microsoft lays off hundreds from Azure unit in China
• Negative Sentiment: Broader caution about the AI data-center buildout suggests investors are questioning how quickly Microsoft’s heavy AI spending will translate into profits. Wall Street’s $800 Billion AI Data Center Bet Is Showing Cracks

Microsoft Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $390.34 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The company has a market cap of $2.90 trillion, a P/E ratio of 23.23, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.11. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $356.28 and a 1 year high of $555.45. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $410.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $429.22.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.06 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $82.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $81.44 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.34% and a return on equity of 31.94%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.46 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 21.67%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of Microsoft 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 46,003 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,922,874.02. The trade was a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.99, for a total transaction of $7,145,345.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 110,477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,928,792.23. This represents a 12.30% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 19,262 shares of company stock valued at $8,695,581. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on MSFT shares. Dbs Bank dropped their price target on Microsoft from $678.00 to $573.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. HSBC dropped their price target on Microsoft from $593.00 to $571.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Rothschild & Co Redburn decreased their price objective 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. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Forty-one analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $561.20.

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).