Microsoft Corporation $MSFT is Positano Wealth Management Ltd’s 3rd Largest Position

Positano Wealth Management Ltd increased its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 122.4% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 44,601 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 24,550 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 12.2% of Positano Wealth Management Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Positano Wealth Management Ltd’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $16,510,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 51.3% during the second quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Bernzott Capital Advisors purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Fairway Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 287.0% during the 4th quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at about $44,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Trading Down 3.0%

MSFT opened at $480.35 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $412.64 and a 200 day moving average of $408.06. 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 $3.57 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.10.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.50. The business had revenue of $90.01 billion for 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 quarterly revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.65 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.59 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.27%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the topic of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Citizens Jmp restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Argus reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $620.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 10th. CLSA reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Tigress Financial increased their target price on Microsoft from $680.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Forty-two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued 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.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were 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 approximately $50,928,792.23. This represents a 12.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $21,188,276.96. This trade represents a 10.13% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 37,310 shares of company stock valued at $17,256,219 over the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

More Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s Azure business reportedly surpassed $100 billion in annual revenue, reinforcing confidence that AI demand is translating into substantial cloud growth. The company’s strong recent earnings, rising Microsoft 365 seat count and increasing adoption of premium E7 and Copilot offerings provide additional long-term growth support. Azure revenue article Microsoft 365 seats article
• Positive Sentiment: William Blair reaffirmed a Buy rating, citing early AI monetization and a constructive long-term risk-reward profile. Other coverage highlighted Microsoft’s ability to generate cash while investing heavily in AI infrastructure, distinguishing it from some competitors. Microsoft Buy rating article
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is developing its Maia 300 AI accelerator, potentially reducing dependence on Nvidia processors and improving supply flexibility and infrastructure economics over time. Maia 300 chip article
• Neutral Sentiment: A partnership with Plug Power tested hydrogen fuel-cell backup power for Microsoft data centers. The trial could support data-center resilience, but Plug’s CEO said it does not represent a strategic pivot or an immediate material change for Microsoft. Plug Power and Microsoft article
• Negative Sentiment: A Guardian investigation raised questions about a possible shortfall in advanced AI chips installed across Microsoft’s facilities relative to its stated data-center expansion plans. Reports cited a potential gap of roughly 2.2 million chips, fueling concerns about deployment timing, capacity and near-term AI revenue growth. Microsoft chip capacity article
• Negative Sentiment: Morgan Stanley warned that heavy AI capital expenditure and rising debt-related obligations could pressure hyperscaler credit quality. Although Microsoft has a strong balance sheet, the warning increases scrutiny of whether massive infrastructure spending will generate adequate returns. Morgan Stanley hyperscaler warning

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).