Fisher Funds Management LTD Has $216.03 Million Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Fisher Funds Management LTD boosted its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 17.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 445,659 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 65,771 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 5.6% of Fisher Funds Management LTD’s portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Fisher Funds Management LTD’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $216,033,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Shelton Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Shelton Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,682 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,264,000 after acquiring an additional 283 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 990,128 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $473,786,000 after purchasing an additional 15,857 shares during the last quarter. J.M. Arbour LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,610,000. Iams Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 22.3% during the 4th quarter. Iams Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,142 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $6,841,000 after purchasing an additional 2,581 shares during the last quarter. Finally, O Connor Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. O Connor Financial Group LLC now owns 2,583 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,204,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, Director John W. Stanton acquired 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $397.35 per share, with a total value of $1,986,750.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 83,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $33,339,651.75. The trade was a 6.34% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,486,322.16. This represents a 8.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $415.00 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.08 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.70, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.10. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $396.79 and its 200 day moving average is $445.39. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $356.28 and a 52 week high of $555.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.28.

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 business had revenue of $82.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $81.44 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.34% and a return on equity of 31.94%. Microsoft’s revenue was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.46 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 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, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 21.67%.

Microsoft News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft continues to draw bullish analyst commentary, with multiple firms raising or reaffirming price targets after the company’s strong earnings beat and Azure growth, reinforcing the view that core business momentum remains solid.
• Positive Sentiment: New reports suggest Microsoft’s AI ecosystem is still gaining traction, including partner milestones tied to Copilot and AI cloud services, which supports the case for continued enterprise adoption.
• Positive Sentiment: Several hedge funds and asset managers have recently added to Microsoft positions, indicating that some large investors still view MSFT as a long-term AI and cloud leader.
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft partnered with CAISI and AISI to advance AI model testing standards, a policy-and-safety focused update that may help its enterprise credibility but is unlikely to move the stock on its own.
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports that Microsoft is considering adjustments to its renewable-energy targets and offering voluntary retirement packages reflect ongoing cost and infrastructure pressures, but these items are more strategic than immediately material to revenue.
• Negative Sentiment: Market attention is centered on TCI’s reduced stake and the broader “AI anxiety” trade, with investors worried Microsoft may be spending heavily on AI infrastructure before the payoff becomes clearer.
• Negative Sentiment: Some commentary also points to temporary margin pressure from elevated AI and data-center spending, which could weigh on near-term profitability even as growth remains strong.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on MSFT. DA Davidson decreased their price objective on Microsoft from $650.00 to $550.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Microsoft from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $575.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Phillip Securities raised shares of Microsoft from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, February 1st. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $595.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have issued a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $562.69.

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).