Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Stock Position Lifted by Royal London Asset Management Ltd.

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. raised its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,802,929 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 117,089 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 4.0% of Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,164,609,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Microsoft by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 717,942,580 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $347,211,391,000 after acquiring an additional 15,955,898 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 306,150,608 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $148,060,557,000 after purchasing an additional 6,388,930 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 182,618,400 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $88,056,019,000 after purchasing an additional 1,911,142 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 121,220,561 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $58,624,690,000 after purchasing an additional 980,439 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $50,664,631,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $491.65 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.23. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $349.20 and a fifty-two week high of $553.72. The stock has a market cap of $3.65 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.11. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $451.71 and a 200-day moving average of $417.95.

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, 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 business had revenue of $90.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $87.62 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.65 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 86,525 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $501.46, for a total value of $43,388,826.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 486,763 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $244,092,173.98. This represents a 15.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, 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 transaction of $4,878,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 100,447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $49,007,086.83. This represents a 9.05% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 101,335 shares of company stock valued at $50,655,795. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on MSFT shares. UBS Group set a $525.00 price objective on Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $586.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $660.00 price objective on Microsoft in a report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $502.00 to $522.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Forty-two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $564.27.

Microsoft News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft disclosed that Azure has surpassed a $100 billion annualized revenue run rate and reorganized its reporting structure around AI agents and infrastructure. The disclosure improves visibility into the company’s fastest-growing business and reinforces the long-term AI investment case. Microsoft Breaks Out Azure Sales at $100 Billion Annualized Pace, Reorganizes AI Segments
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is supporting UpDoc’s team in an ARPA-H program developing autonomous clinical AI for cardiovascular care, alongside OpenAI and NVIDIA. The initiative offers potential strategic and reputational benefits in healthcare AI, although the immediate financial impact is likely limited. ARPA-H Selects UpDoc to Lead Development of Autonomous Clinical AI System
• Positive Sentiment: Pershing Square, managed by Bill Ackman, reportedly increased its Microsoft position by 6.2 million shares. The purchase may provide a sentiment boost by signaling confidence from a prominent activist investor. Pershing Square’s Bill Ackman Boosts Microsoft Stake
• Neutral Sentiment: Strong demand for high-bandwidth memory from Microsoft and other AI companies is benefiting suppliers such as SK Hynix. The report highlights Microsoft’s continued AI infrastructure spending, but also underscores dependence on costly hardware and supply-chain capacity. Nvidia and Meta Are Hungry for HBM
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft’s latest Patch Tuesday addressed a record 974 vulnerabilities, including two Windows zero-days reportedly exploited in the wild. While the fixes reduce longer-term security risk, the scale of the release may raise concerns about software quality, cybersecurity costs and potential customer disruption. Microsoft Patches Record 974 Flaws
• Negative Sentiment: An analyst downgrade argues that Microsoft’s AI capital-expenditure rotation does not yet support an optimistic view, intensifying concerns that infrastructure spending could pressure returns and free cash flow before monetization catches up. Microsoft: CapEx Rotation Does Not Support an Optimistic View
• Negative Sentiment: Fresh lawsuits from news organizations over AI training and content usage add legal and regulatory uncertainty to Microsoft’s OpenAI relationship. Rising Treasury yields are an additional valuation headwind for large technology companies. Microsoft’s OpenAI Partnership Draws Fresh Legal Fire

Microsoft Company Profile

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company that develops software, cloud services, devices and digital solutions for consumers, businesses and public-sector organizations. Its products and services include the Windows operating system, Microsoft 365 productivity applications, Teams collaboration software, Dynamics business applications and Azure cloud computing services.

The company also operates LinkedIn, GitHub and Xbox, which includes gaming consoles, video games and related online services.