Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Sold by Janus Henderson Group PLC

Janus Henderson Group PLC lowered its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 10.9% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 23,878,982 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 2,919,517 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 4.2% of Janus Henderson Group PLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Janus Henderson Group PLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $8,807,009,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 51.3% in 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 in the last quarter. Bernzott Capital Advisors acquired a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Fairway Wealth LLC boosted 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 purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $44,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 100,447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $49,007,086.83. The trade was a 9.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $496.48, for a total transaction of $2,388,068.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 42,677 shares in the company, valued at $21,188,276.96. The trade was a 10.13% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 37,310 shares of company stock valued at $17,256,219. Insiders own 0.03% 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

Microsoft Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $495.40 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The company has a market capitalization of $3.68 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.11. Microsoft Corporation has a 52-week low of $349.20 and a 52-week high of $553.72. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $411.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $408.50.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.50. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.98% and a net margin of 40.31%.The firm had revenue of $90.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $87.62 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.65 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.27%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group set a $525.00 price target on Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Evercore set a $528.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Tigress Financial raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $680.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $575.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Forty-two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $560.27.

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).