Align Financial LLC Acquires Shares of 725,430 Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Align Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 725,430 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $350,832,000. Microsoft comprises approximately 1.6% of Align Financial LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 717,942,580 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $347,211,391,000 after buying an additional 15,955,898 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 306,150,608 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $148,060,557,000 after buying an additional 6,388,930 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 182,618,400 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $88,056,019,000 after buying an additional 1,911,142 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley increased its stake 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 valued at $58,624,690,000 after buying an additional 980,439 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $50,664,631,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was 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 directly owned 46,003 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,922,874.02. This represents a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 110,477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,928,792.23. This trade represents a 12.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 23,762 shares of company stock valued at $10,508,361. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the subject of several research reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Microsoft from $392.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Rothschild & Co Redburn decreased their price objective on Microsoft from $450.00 to $400.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Phillip Securities raised Microsoft to a “buy” rating and set a $485.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Microsoft from $540.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $595.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Forty-one investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $561.20.

Microsoft News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft continues to show strong long-term AI positioning, with articles noting robust AI revenue growth and that the company remains a compelling way to play the AI boom. Microsoft: Growth Outlook Still Robust Without OpenAI Exclusivity
• Positive Sentiment: New products and platform integrations, including Microsoft Advertising’s Media Marketplace launch partner Dstillery and Copilot-related AI updates, suggest ongoing monetization opportunities. Dstillery Brings Predictive AI Audiences to Microsoft Media Marketplace as Launch Partner
• Neutral Sentiment: Some commentary argued Microsoft remains undervalued relative to its AI growth, but these were mostly opinion pieces rather than new business developments. Microsoft in 2026: Still the Smartest Way to Play the AI Boom?
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Microsoft walked away from a potential $3 billion Oracle cloud deal due to security issues weighed on shares and raised concern about AI infrastructure availability. Microsoft’s cloud infrastructure talks with Oracle collapse, Business Insider reports
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple law firms announced or reminded investors about class-action litigation tied to Microsoft’s Azure and AI disclosures, creating an added legal and reputational overhang. Law Offices of Howard G. Smith Encourages Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) Shareholders To Inquire About Securities Fraud Class Action
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst commentary turned more cautious, with several pieces warning that Microsoft’s valuation may already reflect much of the AI optimism and recommending investors sell rallies. Why This Analyst Is Telling Investors to Dump Microsoft Stock (MSFT)

Microsoft Stock Down 3.8%

MSFT stock opened at $378.91 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.81 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.11. The business has a 50-day moving average of $412.13 and a 200-day moving average of $426.70. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $356.28 and a fifty-two week high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.06 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $82.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $81.44 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.94% and a net margin of 39.34%.Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.46 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 given a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 21.67%.

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).