Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Stock Position Lifted by Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas

Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas increased its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 489,634 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,957 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 7.2% of Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas’ holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas’ holdings in Microsoft were worth $181,238,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 51.3% during the 2nd quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Shepherd Kaplan Krochuk LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Shepherd Kaplan Krochuk LLC now owns 431 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $223,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Fischer Investment Strategies LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Fischer Investment Strategies LLC now owns 697 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $337,000 after buying an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Pollock Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Pollock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,805 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,453,000 after buying an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Better Money Decisions LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 0.6% in the second quarter. Better Money Decisions LLC now owns 3,498 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,740,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. 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: Analysts continue to highlight Microsoft’s Azure expansion, accelerating Microsoft 365 Copilot adoption, and the company’s ability to sustain double-digit earnings growth. Microsoft’s latest quarter also exceeded expectations, with revenue of approximately $90 billion and earnings growth supported by Azure. Microsoft’s Cloud Gains Can Sustain Double-Digit Earnings Growth
• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan raised its Microsoft price target to $625, citing stronger Copilot demand and accelerating infrastructure investment. Other analysts remain bullish, with a six-month median target near $540, reinforcing investor confidence in Microsoft’s long-term AI positioning. JPMorgan Raises Microsoft Price Target
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is combining its consumer and enterprise Copilot applications into a unified platform, potentially improving distribution, user engagement, and monetization as it competes with ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude. Microsoft Unifies Copilot Applications
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft approved the first AI data-center deployment under its $9.7 billion agreement with IREN, supporting Azure capacity expansion. The deal improves supply visibility but also underscores Microsoft’s substantial capital requirements. IREN Delivers First AI Cloud Deployment
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned that Microsoft’s roughly $175 billion AI infrastructure spending plan could pressure free cash flow and cloud margins. A reported decline in cloud gross margin and higher data-center, chip, electricity, and labor costs raise questions about how much of the company’s large AI backlog will translate into profit. Microsoft’s AI Backlog and Profitability Concerns
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Microsoft has closed at least 15 China offices and joint ventures add geopolitical and operational uncertainty, although Azure reportedly provides a profitable reason to retain a limited China presence. Microsoft Retreats in China

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on MSFT shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $640.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $515.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $586.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Forty-two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $560.27.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $495.40 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $411.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $408.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.68 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.11. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $349.20 and a fifty-two week high of $553.72.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.50. The firm had revenue of $90.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $87.62 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.98% and a net margin of 40.31%.The company’s revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.65 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be given a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.27%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $487.89, for a total value of $4,878,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 100,447 shares in the company, valued at $49,007,086.83. This represents a 9.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $496.48, for a total transaction of $2,388,068.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 42,677 shares in the company, valued at $21,188,276.96. The trade was a 10.13% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 37,310 shares of company stock valued at $17,256,219. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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).