Mediolanum International Funds Ltd Raises Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Mediolanum International Funds Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 8.5% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,138,150 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 89,082 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 4.3% of Mediolanum International Funds Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $408,550,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MSFT. Argus cut their price target on shares of Microsoft from $620.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 10th. Barclays reduced their target price on Microsoft from $545.00 to $512.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday. Dbs Bank decreased their price target on Microsoft from $678.00 to $573.00 in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane lowered their target price on Microsoft from $556.00 to $555.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 1st. Forty-two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $558.64.

Key Headlines Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Azure growth and AI monetization are driving the rally. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue and earnings exceeded expectations, while Azure growth accelerated to approximately 30%. Analysts and commentators said demand for cloud and generative-AI services is beginning to justify the company’s roughly $175 billion in annual spending. Microsoft Just Proved that AI Spending Can Pay Off
• Positive Sentiment: Strong bookings and infrastructure commitments support future revenue. Microsoft’s cloud backlog and more than $100 billion in data-center leases indicate that customers are committing to long-term capacity, giving investors greater confidence in continued Azure and AI expansion. Big Tech’s Cloud Backlog Just Hit $2.3 Trillion
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street sentiment has improved. Analysts described Microsoft as one of the better-positioned hyperscalers in the AI race, citing its balance sheet, recurring software revenue, free-cash-flow generation and cloud leadership. The post-earnings advance has erased the stock’s prior 2026 losses and renewed expectations for additional upside. Microsoft’s Stock Is on a Run Not Seen in 26 Years
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft 365 ecosystem expansion. Paychex launched its WISE workforce-intelligence integration in Microsoft 365 Copilot and Teams, reinforcing Microsoft’s platform reach among small and midsize businesses, although the direct financial impact for MSFT is likely modest. Paychex Brings WISE Workforce Intelligence to Microsoft 365 Copilot and Teams
• Negative Sentiment: Securities litigation remains an overhang. Several law firms publicized a class action concerning alleged misrepresentations about Copilot functionality, AI adoption and Azure growth, with an August 11 lead-plaintiff deadline. The announcements do not establish liability but could increase legal, reputational and disclosure risks. MSFT Shareholder Alert
• Negative Sentiment: Capital spending and free cash flow remain watch points. The scale of AI infrastructure spending could pressure cash flow and returns if monetization slows, even though recent results have eased those concerns. The AI Spending Boom and Free Cash Flow

Microsoft Trading Up 4.9%

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $487.65 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The company has a market capitalization of $3.62 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.10. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $399.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $405.57. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $349.20 and a 12-month high of $553.72.

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. The business had revenue of $90.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $87.62 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 31.98%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.65 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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 given a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.84, for a total value of $1,812,780.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 47,468 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,122,009.12. The trade was a 8.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 46,003 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,922,874.02. The trade was a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 23,762 shares of company stock worth $10,508,361. 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).