Czech National Bank Grows Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Czech National Bank lifted its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,959,620 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 71,751 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 6.2% of Czech National Bank’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Czech National Bank’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $947,711,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. WFA Asset Management Corp boosted its stake in Microsoft by 27.0% during the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $427,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,658,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 410.4% in the 3rd quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 2,659 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,144,000 after buying an additional 2,138 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. now owns 2,374 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,000,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the period. Finally, Eagle Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 23,097 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,735,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT stock opened at $369.37 on Thursday. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $555.45. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $404.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $464.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.74 trillion, a PE ratio of 23.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The software giant reported $4.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.86 by $0.28. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.04% and a return on equity of 32.34%. The business had revenue of $81.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $80.28 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.23 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be given a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 22.76%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total transaction of $5,045,695.92. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 137,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,486,322.16. The trade was a 8.20% 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. Also, Director John W. Stanton purchased 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $397.35 per share, for a total transaction of $1,986,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 83,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $33,339,651.75. This trade represents a 6.34% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Microsoft News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Large Asia infrastructure commitments: Microsoft said it will invest about $5.5B in Singapore and $1B in Thailand to build cloud and AI data‑center capacity, strengthening long‑term revenue visibility for Azure and enterprise AI services. WSJ: Microsoft Plans to Invest $5.5 Billion in Singapore
• Positive Sentiment: Energy supply de‑risking for AI buildout: Microsoft entered an exclusivity deal with Chevron and Engine No. 1 to explore a ~2.5GW (potentially 5GW) gas‑powered complex in West Texas to power large data centers — a strategic move to secure power and reduce one key constraint on AI scaling. Reuters: Microsoft, Chevron and Engine No. 1 sign exclusive deal
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst backing and higher targets: Multiple firms initiated or raised coverage (Benchmark buy initiation, New Street target hike and other bullish notes), keeping a majority of analysts constructive and implying significant upside from current levels. This institutional support can cushion near‑term downside. Yahoo Finance: What Do Analysts Say About Microsoft?
• Neutral Sentiment: Governance and safety moves: Microsoft unveiled new AI tools (a “Critique and Council” approach) aimed at improving model oversight and trust — helpful for long‑term adoption but unlikely to move near‑term revenue. Yahoo: Microsoft Just Unveiled New AI Tools
• Neutral Sentiment: Org restructure for AI: Microsoft reshuffled its AI org to consolidate go‑to‑market and product execution — a long‑term constructive step but with execution risk during the transition. Fool: Microsoft Reshuffled Its Entire AI Organization
• Negative Sentiment: Weak quarterly reaction and ROI concerns: Investors punished the stock after Q1, calling out elevated capex for AI, slower Copilot adoption and uncertainty over the return on massive infrastructure spending — the core reason for the recent pullback. CNBC: Microsoft closes worst quarter since 2008
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory/competition risk: The U.K. Competition and Markets Authority has launched a probe into Microsoft’s business‑software ecosystem and cloud licensing, adding litigation and regulatory overhang. Reuters: UK to launch antitrust probe into Microsoft
• Negative Sentiment: Technical and sentiment pressures: The stock recently breached its 200‑week moving average and suffered heavy dip selling; social‑media and technical chatter is amplifying downside risk in the short term. Insider sales are also noted in public filings. QuiverQuant: Opinions on Breaching 200‑Week Moving Average

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on MSFT shares. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, March 9th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $500.00 price target for the company. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Microsoft from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $575.00 to $550.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Microsoft from $625.00 to $575.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $588.97.

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).