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August’s action shows an interesting divergence. Mega-cap tech has cooled off the highs while institutional ownership across the biggest cloud franchises keeps grinding higher. Berkshire Hathaway’s disclosure of a new 48-million-share Alphabet position is the loudest signal, but the quieter tell is in the ownership stats: institutions hold 76.36% of Microsoft, 81.17% of Alphabet, and 68.69% of Amazon. When multi-quarter capex commitments start showing up in contracted backlog, professional money tends to accumulate through the noise.

Three names stand out this month, each backed by concrete data on cloud acceleration, AI monetization, and analyst positioning.

Microsoft (MSFT) Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT | MSFT Price Prediction) closed Thursday at $495.40, up 25.22% over the past month after the fiscal Q4 report. The setup here is unusual: the stock is trading roughly 3% below its 52-week high of $550.24, yet analyst positioning has firmed. 54 of 57 covering analysts rate the stock Buy or Strong Buy, with a $567.20 consensus target.

The bull case starts with the backlog. Commercial remaining performance obligations grew 84% to $678 billion, and Azure crossed $100 billion in annual revenue, up 41%. Q4 revenue of $90 billion grew 18%, with non-GAAP EPS of $4.74. Microsoft 365 Copilot passed 30 million paid seats, and CEO Satya Nadella noted that "Azure revenue surpassed $100 billion for the first time". At 27x trailing earnings, investors are paying a reasonable multiple for a business compounding earnings at 31.7% year over year.

Risk to watch: capex intensity is real. FY2026 capital expenditures ran $115.95 billion, up 79.62%, and Q4 free cash flow of $19.6 billion reflects that squeeze. Any deceleration in Azure bookings and the market will re-rate quickly.

Alphabet (GOOGL) Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) is the cheapest of the three at a 17x trailing P/E with a PEG of 0.969. Shares finished Thursday at $345.90, up 10.65% year to date and 70.93% over the trailing year. Berkshire’s recently disclosed 48-million-share position is the headline institutional endorsement, and it lands alongside a Q2 report that keeps looking better on re-read.

Google Cloud revenue accelerated to $24.77 billion, up 82% year over year, from 63% growth in Q1. Total Q2 revenue of $119.80 billion grew 24.2%, and operating income of $40.77 billion rose 30% as the operating margin expanded to 34%. CEO Sundar Pichai flagged that "nearly 90% of the Fortune 100" now uses Gemini Enterprise, with the Gemini App at 950 million monthly active users. Analyst coverage has become one-sided: 58 of 64 covering analysts rate the stock Buy or Strong Buy with a $428.04 target.

Risk to watch: free cash flow turned negative to -$5.86 billion in Q2 as Alphabet raised roughly $70 billion in equity and debt to fund its AI buildout, and long-term debt jumped from $46.5 billion to $98.2 billion. The buyback pause is a warning that management is prioritizing capacity over per-share optics for now.

Amazon (AMZN) Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) closed at $262.65, up 13.79% year to date. Analyst enthusiasm is the strongest in the group: 59 of 62 covering analysts rate the stock Buy or Strong Buy with a $325.19 consensus target.

Q2 revenue of $200.61 billion grew 19.6%. AWS grew 36.7% year over year, its fastest pace in 18 quarters, on an annualized run rate of $169 billion with an operating margin of 39%. AI and custom chips each cleared $25 billion annualized run rates growing triple digits, and the AWS backlog stands at $496 billion. Advertising revenue of $19.81 billion grew 26%. CEO Andy Jassy told the call that "AWS is booming right now" and management now believes AWS "will be at least double" the few-hundred-billion revenue base they long modeled.

Risk to watch: free cash flow has turned negative on a TTM basis at -$7.6 billion after $53.1 billion of cash capex in Q2 alone. Investors are underwriting the 2027 capacity doubling before it monetizes, and at 36x earnings, the multiple leaves little room for a demand air pocket.

What to Watch Next All three names are running the same playbook: absorb an unprecedented capex cycle, convert it into contracted cloud backlog, and monetize AI seats and tokens on top. The tell will be Q1 fiscal 2027 Azure guidance (Microsoft has already pointed to roughly 45% growth in constant currency), the trajectory of Google Cloud’s 82% run rate, and whether AWS holds its 18-quarter high in growth. If any of those cracks, the smart-money accumulation thesis needs re-underwriting. Until then, the setup keeps rewarding patience.

Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.

The chips are quite small and some can be held in the palm of a hand. They are fundamental to the development of artificial intelligence models – and the world’s biggest technology companies need vast numbers of them to keep ahead.

Microsoft is one of them. And, on paper, it seems to have a problem. A Guardian investigation has found an apparent discrepancy between what the company has said about its AI capacity – and the number of advanced AI chips it has in operation.

It is not a small shortfall either. Microsoft reportedly targeted having 1.8m AI chips installed in its datacentres around the globe by the end of 2024. Nearly two years on, in the middle of a $280bn (£208bn) expansion, the company has 2.2m AI chips installed, according to internal documents seen by the Guardian. This is less than half the number some experts had imagined.

Put simply, the global AI arms race requires a massive build-out of datacentres that run on extremely expensive chips. The apparent discrepancy over the chips suggests Microsoft’s newest datacentres may not be fully operational or, if they are, they do not have the chips they need.

Nvidia’s microchips are integral to the boom in datacentre development. Photograph: NurPhoto/Getty ImagesThis highlights something even more fundamental about charting the progress being made in the development of AI technologies. The chips that power AI are made by Nvidia, one of the two most valuable companies in the world. Its supply chain is one of the most tightly held secrets in the entire industry.

With almost no exceptions, Nvidia does not report how many of these chips it sells or to whom. Its clients, the world’s biggest tech companies, in turn do not reveal how many they have. Without this information, it is very hard for anyone to know whether AI is booming or not.

Microsoft: a power vacuum?In the past two years, Microsoft says it has built AI infrastructure at breakneck speed. Its chief executive, Satya Nadella, said last year it would double its global datacentre footprint by mid-2027. Since 2022 it has ploughed roughly $280bn into the land, buildings and computational infrastructure to build AI. This includes more than $41bn in the past quarter.

But it is difficult to estimate how many datacentres Microsoft has built with this money.

It is possible to assess the progress that the company is making by looking at what it has announced publicly, with a particular eye on the power it needs. Datacentres need electricity, so one way of estimating how many datacentres are operational is to add up the energy Microsoft has at its disposal – its AI capacity.

Microsoft’s own claims, set out in annual reports and quarterly earnings, suggest it has added 5GW of datacentre capacity over the past two years as part of its AI build-out. It says it now has hundreds of datacentres on five continents.

Five gigawatts is a dizzying amount of energy – it is four times the size of the largest datacentre park in Europe. But Microsoft’s total capacity should be even greater than this; it has been building AI infrastructure since 2022. How much greater is an open question.

The hardware inside a Microsoft datacentre campus. Photograph: Audrey Richardson/ReutersIn an investor presentation from 2024, Microsoft reportedly claimed to have 5GW of datacentre capacity already installed. That would suggest it could now have a total of 10GW of capacity. It is unclear if all of these are AI datacentres – some could be for other cloud services. But Microsoft’s own statements indicate that the overwhelming focus of its capital expenditures in recent years has been to build AI infrastructure.

Ten gigawatts of AI datacentres would suggest Microsoft should have roughly 6.4m graphics processing units (GPUs). Shaolei Ren, a professor at the University of California, Riverside, said Microsoft’s sustainability reports, which contain figures for its electricity usage and are published separately from its financials, painted a different picture.

He said these reports suggest Microsoft’s AI capacity in 2024 was probably closer to 1.2GW. But even this lower figure would indicate Microsoft would need roughly 4m AI chips – if it added 5GW of AI datacentres in the past two years.

“According to their own metrics, Microsoft could be correct. But it isn’t clear what they mean when they say they have added datacentre capacity. They are giving insufficient context,” Ren said. “The sustainability reports are audited by a third party. They have more credibility than announcements.”

An analyst who specialises in Nvidia said they thought Microsoft would have more chips, given its public statements. “They’re low to me. They’re less than I expected Microsoft would have,” they said.

Microsoft insisted the Guardian’s calculations were based on incorrect information. It did not offer any insight as to which of the Guardian’s numbers were incorrect or why. What is clear is that Microsoft’s build-out of AI capacity appears to be going far more slowly than its annual reports may suggest.

Ren said: “It may be plausible to secure or announce 1GW of power capacity within a single quarter on paper. But bringing that capacity online and actually using it for computing within the same quarter would be far more difficult.”

Sources within Microsoft say the company’s total number of AI chips has “barely moved” over the past year.

Some of the apparent discrepancy may be explained by Microsoft’s tie-up with OpenAI. The exact terms of their commercial partnership are not public, but this unit may account for some of Microsoft’s datacentre deployments, which would not be in the documents the Guardian has seen.

A Microsoft datacentre in Middenmeer, the Netherlands. Photograph: ANP/Shutterstock‘You may have a bunch of chips … you can’t plug in’There is another factor: some of Microsoft’s big projects appear to be far from operational.

Take Microsoft’s largest AI development in the US, a pair of datacentres in Wisconsin and Georgia called Fairwater. In April, Nadella, Microsoft’s chief executive, said the Fairwater project in Wisconsin “is going live”.

Satellite footage of the building from Epoch AI, however, appears to indicate only part of it is operational. In May, Microsoft admitted to a Wisconsin newspaper that Fairwater was not yet online.

This is very common, said Ren. Initially it was a multi-gigawatt, multibillion-dollar investment. Three years later, only 300MW has been built.

Satya Nadella said last year Microsoft would double its global datacentre footprint by mid-2027. Photograph: Jeff Chiu/APThe internal document also indicates Microsoft has fewer of Nvidia’s newest model of chip, the Blackwell, than one might expect given Nvidia’s public announcements. Last March, Nvidia’s chief executive, Jensen Huang, said orders for Blackwells from Nvidia’s top four customers – widely thought to be Amazon, Oracle, Microsoft and Google – amounted to 3.6m.

There was no breakdown given for this figure, but Microsoft has historically been one of Nvidia’s largest customers. If this was still the case, that should put Microsoft’s total Blackwell holdings at somewhere close to 1m chips. In fact, it has less than half of this amount installed.

Where are the chips, if not in the datacentres?Nvidia’s balance sheets appear to indicate that it has sold a great many chips; it posted a revenue of $215.9bn in February. Has Microsoft bought these but not installed them? How many, and are all of them in its possession?

Nadella appeared to gesture at this question on a podcast late last year called All Things AI, where he talked about Microsoft’s datacentre build-out. The biggest problem, he said, was electrical power and building datacentres close enough to where power was located.

“If you can’t do that, you may actually have a bunch of chips sitting in inventory that I can’t plug in. In fact, that is my problem today. It’s not a supply issue of chips. It’s actually the fact that I don’t have warm shells to plug into.”

A Microsoft spokesperson said: “Over several decades, Microsoft has built a global infrastructure to meet rapidly growing customer demand for cloud and AI services. Our datacentres combine custom silicon, AMD, Intel and Nvidia chips across multiple generations with the networking, storage and systems infrastructure required to operate at scale.

“Microsoft does not report on the volume of specific chips in its AI infrastructure. The estimates the Guardian has shared with us are inaccurate, drawing the wrong conclusions from incorrect assumptions.”

Nvidia did not respond to a request for comment.

How to calculate numbers of chips from a company’s ‘AI capacity’The world’s biggest technology companies give figures for their AI capacity in terms of power: gigawatts. One gigawatt powers between 700,000 and 1m homes. Meta says its controversial Hyperion datacentre in Louisiana will have 5GW of capacity. The UK company DataVita is planning a 1GW datacentre in Lanarkshire.

Converting these figures into chips means calculating how many chips can be run with that amount of power. The Guardian used the following methodology, reviewing these calculations with Abdeltawab Hendawi, a professor at the University of Rhode Island, and Ren.

To get a very broad approximation of how many chips there are in a datacentre, you could divide the power usage of that datacentre by the power usage of an AI chip – for example, an H100. A single H100 uses 700W. If Microsoft has 10GW of capacity, dividing this by 700 watts suggests it should have 12m chips.

H100s make up the bulk of the chips described in the internal document. It also indicates that Microsoft has A100s, which use less power, and Blackwells, which use more.

But this approximation does not account for several factors. First, datacentres have cooling systems and other equipment, which also use electricity. Ren estimates that in a given AI datacentre, 80% of the electricity goes to computer chips. This is roughly in accordance with figures from the International Energy Agency, although the number depends on the efficiency of the datacentre. Eighty per cent of 10GW would suggest 8GW may actually be in use.

This is slightly lower than Microsoft’s own figures for its datacentre efficiency, which appear in a 2024 sustainability report and suggest that 89% of the electricity in its new datacentres powers the IT systems, with an 11% overhead.

Second, not all the chips in a datacentre are AI chips. Instead, AI chips are fitted on to server racks with other computer chips, such as memory chips, that help them run calculations. A server with eight H100 GPUs uses a maximum of about 10kW of power.

Dividing 8GW by 10kW gives 800,000 servers, or 6.4m chips.

This is a conservative estimate, as in practice companies such as Microsoft oversubscribe their power capacity to some extent – putting more chips in a datacentre than can be supported by their IT capacity, said Ren.

Essential Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report) by 119.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,289 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,884 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 0.7% of Essential Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Essential Partners LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,958,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MSFT. Markel Group Inc. raised its holdings in Microsoft by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 537,630 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $199,014,000 after acquiring an additional 1,950 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in Microsoft by 8.4% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 6,921,677 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,562,197,000 after buying an additional 537,634 shares during the period. Taylor Securities Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,616,000. Werba Rubin Papier Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 15.7% during the 4th quarter. Werba Rubin Papier Wealth Management now owns 12,492 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $6,041,000 after acquiring an additional 1,698 shares during the period. Finally, Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 138.8% in the first quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 1,356,359 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $502,077,000 after acquiring an additional 788,297 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.3%
NASDAQ MSFT opened at $495.40 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.68 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.58, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.11. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $411.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $408.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $349.20 and a 52 week high of $553.72.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.50. Microsoft had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 31.98%. The business had revenue of $90.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $87.62 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.65 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.27%.

Microsoft News Roundup
Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

Positive Sentiment: Analysts continue to highlight Microsoft’s Azure expansion, accelerating Microsoft 365 Copilot adoption, and the company’s ability to sustain double-digit earnings growth. Microsoft’s latest quarter also exceeded expectations, with revenue of approximately $90 billion and earnings growth supported by Azure. Microsoft’s Cloud Gains Can Sustain Double-Digit Earnings Growth
Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan raised its Microsoft price target to $625, citing stronger Copilot demand and accelerating infrastructure investment. Other analysts remain bullish, with a six-month median target near $540, reinforcing investor confidence in Microsoft’s long-term AI positioning. JPMorgan Raises Microsoft Price Target
Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is combining its consumer and enterprise Copilot applications into a unified platform, potentially improving distribution, user engagement, and monetization as it competes with ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude. Microsoft Unifies Copilot Applications
Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft approved the first AI data-center deployment under its $9.7 billion agreement with IREN, supporting Azure capacity expansion. The deal improves supply visibility but also underscores Microsoft’s substantial capital requirements. IREN Delivers First AI Cloud Deployment
Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned that Microsoft’s roughly $175 billion AI infrastructure spending plan could pressure free cash flow and cloud margins. A reported decline in cloud gross margin and higher data-center, chip, electricity, and labor costs raise questions about how much of the company’s large AI backlog will translate into profit. Microsoft’s AI Backlog and Profitability Concerns
Negative Sentiment: Reports that Microsoft has closed at least 15 China offices and joint ventures add geopolitical and operational uncertainty, although Azure reportedly provides a profitable reason to retain a limited China presence. Microsoft Retreats in China

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of equities analysts have weighed in on MSFT shares. Rothschild & Co Redburn cut their price target on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $400.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Mizuho decreased their target price on Microsoft from $515.00 to $490.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. China Renaissance cut their price target on shares of Microsoft from $630.00 to $550.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $660.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, UBS Group set a $525.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Forty-two equities 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, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $560.27.

Get Our Latest Stock Report on MSFT

Insider Transactions at Microsoft
In related news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $487.89, for a total value of $4,878,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 100,447 shares in the company, valued at approximately $49,007,086.83. The trade was a 9.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $496.48, for a total value of $2,388,068.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 42,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,188,276.96. This represents a 10.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 37,310 shares of company stock worth $17,256,219. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

About Microsoft
(Free Report)

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).

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Plug Power (PLUG +0.87%) recently tested a backup power system in collaboration with Microsoft. The move comes amid hyperscalers' ever-increasing appetite for energy, and tech giants are exploring every possible avenue -- from gas turbines to hydrogen fuel cells -- to meet their energy needs.

CEO Jose Luis Crespo told investors this venture doesn't signal a fundamental shift in the company's strategy. Instead, Plug Power continues to focus on its core operations while reeling in expenses as it looks to become profitable.

Here's what investors need to know about Plug Power and where things could go from here.

Image source: Plug Power.

Microsoft put Plug Power's hydrogen fuel cells to the test In July, Plug Power announced it had entered into a technical collaboration with Microsoft to test whether its proton exchange membrane hydrogen fuel cells could be used at scale. The company delivered a 3-megawatt (MW) backup power system prototype capable of generating enough energy to replace a standard diesel generator.

The unit was built and housed in two 40-foot shipping containers. During testing, these fuel cells responded to simulated power grid outages, ramping up in seconds and using hydrogen as fuel, which emits only water vapor and heat.

The move tested Plug's hydrogen fuel cells in a data center environment and comes as the company explores whether its product could relieve grid strain from heavy electrical loads. Beyond testing, the company is working with Stream U.S. Data Centers to explore opportunities to deploy Plug Power's products in the data center industry.

Plug is undergoing a massive transformation and restructuring, and the data center move isn't a real pivot for the company. Its recent transactions are centered on asset monetization rather than on massive capital expenditures to open up new revenue streams. For example, it agreed to sell land and 164 MW of grid interconnection assets to Stream for up to $76.5 million.

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Plug's focus remains on becoming profitable Plug remains committed to Project Quantum Leap, where it will focus on its core businesses and reducing costs as it looks to become profitable for the first time in a quarter century. The company continues to execute on its three lines of business: material handling (through partnerships with retailers Walmart and Amazon); electrolyzers; and hydrogen fuel.

The company aims to achieve profitability across its existing segments; reach positive earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) by the fourth quarter of this year; and be profitable by 2028. For that reason, the company isn't looking to deploy significant capital to pursue another growth avenue. After all, that's what it has done throughout its history, and that's why it has an accumulated deficit of over $8.6 billion.

What investors should watch for Plug Power's collaboration with Microsoft demonstrated the technical viability of its fuel cells for data centers, but Plug Power's management team remains focused on its core business and achieving profitability before pouring capital into its next venture.

Plug Power has a long history of losing money and has been a painful stock for long-term investors amid massive cash burn and share dilution. While I wouldn't buy the stock on this news, it's worth keeping an eye on it in the coming quarters to see whether management is achieving its stated goals and how it plans to handle data center deals going forward.

Encore Global Management LP purchased a new position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 12,950 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $4,794,000. Microsoft makes up about 3.3% of Encore Global Management LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Markel Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 537,630 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $199,014,000 after acquiring an additional 1,950 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its stake in Microsoft by 8.4% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 6,921,677 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,562,197,000 after acquiring an additional 537,634 shares during the last quarter. Taylor Securities Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,616,000. Werba Rubin Papier Wealth Management raised its position in Microsoft by 15.7% during the fourth quarter. Werba Rubin Papier Wealth Management now owns 12,492 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $6,041,000 after purchasing an additional 1,698 shares during the period. Finally, Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 138.8% in the 1st quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 1,356,359 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $502,077,000 after purchasing an additional 788,297 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Microsoft News Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

Positive Sentiment: Pershing Square’s Bill Ackman reaffirmed his bullish Azure thesis, arguing that continued capacity investment and Microsoft 365’s embedded customer base can support high-teens earnings growth. Microsoft Stock Rises as Ackman Reaffirms Azure Bet Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan raised its Microsoft price target to $625, citing accelerating Copilot adoption and infrastructure growth. Wells Fargo also maintained an overweight rating and lifted its target to $700, reinforcing the view that the stock’s AI-driven recovery has further upside. JPMorgan Raises Microsoft Price Target Positive Sentiment: Microsoft began gradually combining its consumer and enterprise Copilot applications into a unified AI platform. The planned “super app” could improve user adoption, cross-selling and Microsoft’s competitive position against ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude. Microsoft Unifies Consumer and Enterprise Copilot Positive Sentiment: Microsoft accepted IREN’s first AI data-center deployment under a $9.7 billion cloud agreement. The milestone supports Azure’s ability to secure additional computing capacity as AI infrastructure demand remains strong. IREN Hands Microsoft Its First AI Cloud Deployment Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft is reportedly closing or restructuring numerous China offices and joint ventures, while retaining an Azure-linked presence. The move may reduce geopolitical exposure but could also limit access to the Chinese market. Microsoft Retreats in China Negative Sentiment: A report said Microsoft plans to cut carbon-removal purchases while AI-related emissions rise, creating potential reputational and environmental concerns. Microsoft Carbon Removal Purchases Report Insider Buying and Selling In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $496.48, for a total transaction of $2,388,068.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 42,677 shares in the company, valued at $21,188,276.96. The trade was a 10.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 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 transaction of $7,145,345.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 110,477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,928,792.23. The trade was a 12.30% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 37,310 shares of company stock worth $17,256,219. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on MSFT shares. HSBC cut their target price on Microsoft from $593.00 to $571.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Arete Research lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $730.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $640.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, DZ Bank restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Forty-two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $560.27.

Get Our Latest Analysis on MSFT

Microsoft Trading Up 0.9% MSFT opened at $496.88 on Friday. 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 firm has a market cap of $3.69 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.67, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.11. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $349.20 and a 12 month high of $553.72. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $409.70 and a 200-day moving average price of $407.88.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.50. The company had revenue of $90.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $87.62 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.98% and a net margin of 40.31%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.65 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be given a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 20.27%.

Microsoft Profile (Free Report)

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).

Read More Five stocks we like better than Microsoft Asian Market Circuit Breakers Hit Stocks, Not AI Demand Riot Platforms Re-Wires the Ledger for a $9B AI Power Play Nebius Just Exploded 34% on Blowout Earnings—Is It Time to Buy? Joby’s Defense Pivot Accelerates With $500M Resonant Sciences Deal Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MSFT? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report).

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Posted by Defense World Staff on Aug 14th, 2026

Amundi lifted its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report) by 30.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 41,675,076 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 9,814,598 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 4.2% of Amundi’s holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Amundi owned approximately 0.56% of Microsoft worth $15,426,862,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 51.3% during the second quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Bernzott Capital Advisors bought a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Fairway Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 287.0% in the 4th quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Finally, University of Illinois Foundation bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $50,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

More Microsoft News Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

Positive Sentiment: Pershing Square’s Bill Ackman reaffirmed his bullish Azure thesis, arguing that continued capacity investment and Microsoft 365’s embedded customer base can support high-teens earnings growth. Microsoft Stock Rises as Ackman Reaffirms Azure Bet Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan raised its Microsoft price target to $625, citing accelerating Copilot adoption and infrastructure growth. Wells Fargo also maintained an overweight rating and lifted its target to $700, reinforcing the view that the stock’s AI-driven recovery has further upside. JPMorgan Raises Microsoft Price Target Positive Sentiment: Microsoft began gradually combining its consumer and enterprise Copilot applications into a unified AI platform. The planned “super app” could improve user adoption, cross-selling and Microsoft’s competitive position against ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude. Microsoft Unifies Consumer and Enterprise Copilot Positive Sentiment: Microsoft accepted IREN’s first AI data-center deployment under a $9.7 billion cloud agreement. The milestone supports Azure’s ability to secure additional computing capacity as AI infrastructure demand remains strong. IREN Hands Microsoft Its First AI Cloud Deployment Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft is reportedly closing or restructuring numerous China offices and joint ventures, while retaining an Azure-linked presence. The move may reduce geopolitical exposure but could also limit access to the Chinese market. Microsoft Retreats in China Negative Sentiment: A report said Microsoft plans to cut carbon-removal purchases while AI-related emissions rise, creating potential reputational and environmental concerns. Microsoft Carbon Removal Purchases Report Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft In related news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares of the company’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 sale, the chief executive officer 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. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $496.48, for a total transaction of $2,388,068.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 42,677 shares in the company, valued at $21,188,276.96. This represents a 10.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 37,310 shares of company stock worth $17,256,219. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Arete Research boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $730.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $575.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Evercore set a $528.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Argus reduced their target price 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. Forty-two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $560.27.

Read Our Latest Analysis on MSFT

Microsoft Stock Performance Shares of MSFT stock opened at $496.88 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $409.70 and a 200-day moving average of $407.88. The company has a market cap of $3.69 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $349.20 and a 52 week high of $553.72.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $87.62 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.65 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be given a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.27%.

Microsoft Profile (Free Report)

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).

Featured Articles Five stocks we like better than Microsoft Asian Market Circuit Breakers Hit Stocks, Not AI Demand Riot Platforms Re-Wires the Ledger for a $9B AI Power Play Nebius Just Exploded 34% on Blowout Earnings—Is It Time to Buy? Joby’s Defense Pivot Accelerates With $500M Resonant Sciences Deal

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Posted by Defense World Staff on Aug 13th, 2026

Estuary Capital Management LP lessened its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report) by 27.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 54,248 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 20,922 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 3.4% of Estuary Capital Management LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Estuary Capital Management LP’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $20,081,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 51.3% in the 2nd quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Bernzott Capital Advisors purchased a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. Fairway Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 287.0% during the 4th quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth $44,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Price Performance MSFT stock opened at $492.43 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $349.20 and a 12-month high of $553.72. The company has a market cap of $3.66 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.11. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $408.32 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $407.67.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.50. Microsoft had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 31.98%. The firm had revenue of $90.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $87.62 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.65 earnings per share. Microsoft’s revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.58 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 20.27%.

Insiders Place Their Bets In other Microsoft news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $487.89, for a total transaction of $4,878,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 100,447 shares in the company, valued at $49,007,086.83. The trade was a 9.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $496.48, for a total value of $2,388,068.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 42,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,188,276.96. The trade was a 10.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 37,310 shares of company stock valued at $17,256,219. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft News Roundup Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

Positive Sentiment: Strong quarterly results remain the primary bullish catalyst. Microsoft reported revenue growth of 17.7% and earnings of $4.74 per share, well above consensus, reinforcing confidence in Azure, cloud demand and AI monetization. Magnificent Seven Earnings Remain Robust: MSFT, AAPL Positive Sentiment: Analyst sentiment remains supportive. Wells Fargo raised its Microsoft price target to a Street-high $700 from $650 and maintained an overweight rating, citing the company’s growth prospects and ecosystem strength. Wells Fargo Raises Microsoft Price Target Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is expanding its AI and cloud ecosystem through partnerships, including S&P Global data in Microsoft 365 Copilot, broader enterprise adoption in Brazil and Sionic’s instant-payment service on Microsoft Marketplace. These initiatives could support platform usage and recurring revenue over time. S&P Global Expands Collaboration with Microsoft Neutral Sentiment: Reports that Microsoft may introduce another Maia AI processor as early as September highlight its strategy to use custom chips to improve Azure AI efficiency. The move could reduce costs and reliance on outside suppliers, but the financial benefits will depend on successful scaling. Microsoft Stock Drops While Maia Chip Ambitions Expand Negative Sentiment: Investors are concerned that Microsoft’s rapidly rising AI infrastructure spending could pressure margins, cash flow and returns before new capacity generates sufficient revenue. The stock’s sharp rally since the earnings report also increases profit-taking and valuation sensitivity. Microsoft’s AI Data Center Push: Growth Engine or Capex Trap? Negative Sentiment: A newly disclosed Windows zero-day vulnerability that may enable system-wide access adds reputational, remediation and potential liability concerns. Separate reports of pending investor lawsuits contribute to a cautious tone, although neither issue has yet altered Microsoft’s fundamental earnings outlook. New Windows Zero-Day Bug Published Analysts Set New Price Targets MSFT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. CLSA reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $586.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, July 27th. China Renaissance decreased their price target on Microsoft from $630.00 to $550.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Finally, DZ Bank reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Forty-two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $560.27.

View Our Latest Stock Report on Microsoft

Microsoft Company Profile (Free Report)

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).

Featured Articles Five stocks we like better than Microsoft GE Vernova’s AI Power Boom Faces a Profit Test Cardinal Health Earnings: Can Perfection Get Priced In Twice? Nebius’ Q2 Beat Shows the AI Bottleneck Is Capacity, Not Demand Legacy Jet Builders Stall While Embraer Accelerates to New Highs Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MSFT? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report).

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The merger of Microsoft’s consumer and business Copilot apps ;ays the groundwork for the upcoming Copilot “Super App” that Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has touted to developers and investors. (GeekWire File Photo / Kevin Lisota) Microsoft is starting the process of combining its consumer and business Copilot apps into one, laying the structural foundation for an upcoming “Super App,” and trying to turn the company’s sprawling artificial intelligence brand into a unified product that people actually use. 

The move is part of the company’s effort to better compete with ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude, attempting to turn its legacy in workplace technology and cloud infrastructure into a stronger position in AI apps and agents. 

It also recognizes the blending of business and personal lives, and the reality that many people use the same AI assistants for both home and work.

The Copilot unification, detailed Thursday in support documents from the company, will take place gradually over the next several weeks, bringing major changes for some existing users. 

Several features of the consumer app are going away starting on Aug. 18, including Copilot Podcasts, Group Chat and Deep Research. Also disappearing is Mico, the expressive blob introduced less than a year ago to accompany the consumer Copilot’s voice mode, although Microsoft expects it to live on in some of Copilot’s education features. 

Commercial users will see far less change, with Microsoft calling them mostly cosmetic. For example, the Microsoft 365 Copilot app will be known simply as Microsoft Copilot, with a new icon and a new web address.

The unified app is a key step for the company, but it is not, on its own, the launch of the Super App. That larger move will bring together Copilot’s chat, AI coding, Cowork and new AutoPilot agents into a single app. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella told investors on the company’s July 29 earnings call that the Super App will be out this quarter, meaning by the end of September.

The broader initiative is an attempt to remake and unify Copilot under Jacob Andreou, the former Snap executive Nadella put in charge of the product in March. Mustafa Suleyman, the DeepMind and Inflection co-founder who had run Microsoft’s consumer AI efforts since 2024, shifted to a narrower role at the time, focused on developing new AI models. 

Andreou detailed the move in a memo to his 11,000-person organization in early July, as reported by The Information, citing the need to move on from features that weren’t gaining traction, and “earn and respect the right to exist in our customers’ lives.” 

Microsoft said last month that Microsoft 365 Copilot surpassed 30 million paid seats, up from 20 million in April, with net seat additions more than doubling quarter over quarter. That amounts to just about 7% of the more than 450 million commercial Microsoft 365 paid seats the company reported in January. 

Microsoft doesn’t disclose how many people use the consumer Copilot app, but Sensor Tower estimated 38.5 million monthly users in July, a fraction of ChatGPT’s 1 billion monthly users.

Here is more on what Copilot users can expect:

Gradual rollout: Migration will begin this week with a small group of Windows Insiders and will expand more broadly next week. Worldwide rollout will start with mobile and web in mid-August; Windows and Mac apps will follow in mid-September. Users will see the change at different times, and Microsoft says that’s expected. Mobile users will need to download an updated app.

Unified app and name: The consumer and commercial apps will become a single app called Microsoft Copilot, with a refreshed icon. The commercial web address will move from m365.cloud.microsoft to copilot.cloud.microsoft, with automatic redirects beginning in late August.

Work and personal will stay separate: Users will be able to sign in with a personal account, a work or school account, or both, and switch between them in the app.

Microsoft says data won’t flow between the two, employers won’t be able to see personal activity, and enterprise security, compliance and administrative controls will remain unchanged.

Chats and content will persist: Chat history, images and other content created in the consumer app will migrate to the new one. Files shared with or generated by Copilot will move to OneDrive, where additional storage requires a paid plan.

Deep Research will get only a partial replacement: Deep Research generates long, detailed reports by searching the web and pulling sources together. It’s being retired for consumers, and the substitute, a similar tool called Researcher, will be available only to subscribers of Microsoft 365 Premium, a higher tier than the Personal and Family plans.

Personal and Family subscribers will still be able to open their old reports from chat history and save them to Word, but won’t be able to create new ones.

Podcasts and Group Chat will go away: Group chat threads, messages and the images created in them will disappear after Aug. 18. Copilot podcasts — the AI-generated audio discussions the app made from websites and uploaded documents — will need to be downloaded individually from the podcast library before then.

Some features will be temporarily unavailable: Shopping and Copilot Health may be missing for some consumer users mid-migration. Microsoft says both will return, and that heavy Health users will be migrated later so the feature will be waiting when they arrive.

Free limits may tighten: Microsoft says core Copilot chat will stay free “subject to capacity and limits,” but that some users will hit those limits sooner than they do today. Those who do can buy a paid Microsoft 365 plan, such as Personal or Family, which come with higher usage limits.

Implications for IT departments: Recall, the Windows feature that periodically captures screenshots of a user’s activity for subsequent AI searching, can be configured to leave certain apps out of those screenshots. Organizations that excluded the old Copilot app will need to apply that setting again to the new one. The exclusion won’t carry over automatically. 

HomeStock IdeasLong IdeasTech 

SummaryMicrosoft delivered robust Q4 results, with 18% YoY revenue growth and a strong performance from Intelligent Cloud and Productivity & Business Processes.Intelligent Cloud segment accelerated to 31% constant currency growth, with Azure up 43%, justifying elevated CapEx.Guidance for Q1 implies continued strength, with revenue growth expected to be at 33% for Intelligent Cloud, reinforcing the bullish outlook.I reaffirm my strong buy rating on Microsoft, citing attractive valuation, resilient fundamentals, and a favorable risk/reward profile despite regulatory and supply chain risks. wellesenterprises/iStock Editorial via Getty Images

Introduction In mid May, I reiterated my strong buy rating on Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) and called the stock a table-pounding buy. I cited overblown SaaSpocalypse fears, strong performance in Azure, and an attractive valuation. I believe

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Analyst’s Disclosure: I/we have a beneficial long position in the shares of MSFT either through stock ownership, options, or other derivatives. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

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Seeking Alpha's Disclosure: Past performance is no guarantee of future results. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. Any views or opinions expressed above may not reflect those of Seeking Alpha as a whole. Seeking Alpha is not a licensed securities dealer, broker or US investment adviser or investment bank. Our analysts are third party authors that include both professional investors and individual investors who may not be licensed or certified by any institute or regulatory body.

A security researcher has published details of a new vulnerability in the latest versions of Windows that allows hackers to gain system-wide access to the user’s device and data, despite facing a legal threat from Microsoft weeks earlier over the release of previously unknown software flaws.

The new bug, dubbed ShieldBreak, is the latest disclosure by security researcher Nightmare Eclipse, who in recent months has published details of several bugs affecting Microsoft’s products, including Windows.

According to Nightmare Eclipse’s post, ShieldBreak takes advantage of a flaw in Windows Defender, the anti-malware and security engine built into Windows. A successful attack allows the hacker to escalate their permissions from a low-level user to full access to the device and its data. 

Nightmare Eclipse published the proof-of-concept exploit as a Windows app, requiring the user to run the app to exploit the bug. The bug works on Windows 10, Windows 11 (including the latest 25H2 version), and Windows Server 2025, the researcher said.

Security researcher Will Dormann verified that the bug works and that Windows Defender must be enabled for the exploit to work. 

The latest exploit builds on an earlier exploit that Nightmare Eclipse developed dubbed RoguePlanet, according to Nightmare Eclipse. Microsoft rolled out a patch for RoguePlanet, but the researcher implied that Microsoft’s fix was not sufficient and that their latest exploit demonstrates a full bypass of the earlier patch.

Microsoft has not yet released a patch for the ShieldBreak bug. A spokesperson for Microsoft did not immediately comment when contacted by TechCrunch. The bug is considered a zero-day because the software maker — in this case, Microsoft — was given no time to patch the bug before it was publicly disclosed.

The release of this new zero-day is the latest in a long back-and-forth between the security researcher and the software giant over the company’s alleged handling of their bug reports. 

In a series of blog posts, the security researcher claimed that Microsoft mistreated them and did not handle their bug reports sufficiently, with the implication that the researcher had no other choice but to publicly disclose the bugs online. Nightmare Eclipse previously released several other bugs in Windows that were later exploited in real-world attacks to hack into organizations.

In May, Microsoft published a blog post threatening to take legal action against security researchers, like Nightmare Eclipse, if they released details of zero-days outside of the company’s disclosure policies. The company faced heavy rebuke from the security community, many of whom described similar experiences with Microsoft’s handling of their bug reports. Microsoft later walked back the comments in a social media post. Its original blog post remains published and unchanged.

ShieldBreak lands a day after Microsoft’s regularly scheduled monthly security patch releases, dubbed Patch Tuesday. This is the second month in a row where the number of patches has reached around 500 or so bugs driven by the company’s growing use of AI to find and weed out security flaws.

When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.

Zack Whittaker is the security editor at TechCrunch. He also authors the weekly cybersecurity newsletter, this week in security.

He can be reached via encrypted message at zackwhittaker.1337 on Signal. You can also contact him by email, or to verify outreach, at [email protected].

Posted by Defense World Staff on Aug 12th, 2026

Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC grew its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report) by 12.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 38,561 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,117 shares during the quarter. Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $14,274,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 51.3% during the 2nd quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Bernzott Capital Advisors bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,000. Fairway Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 287.0% during the fourth quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $496.48, for a total value of $2,388,068.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 42,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,188,276.96. This trade represents a 10.13% 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, 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 value of $519,111.08. Following the sale, the executive vice president 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 38,572 shares of company stock valued at $17,775,330. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on MSFT shares. China Renaissance decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $630.00 to $550.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their target price on Microsoft from $502.00 to $522.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Microsoft from $625.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $640.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $515.00 to $490.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Forty-two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $559.16.

View Our Latest Analysis on Microsoft

Microsoft Trading Down 0.4% NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $503.81 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $3.74 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.11. 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 50 day simple moving average of $407.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $407.37. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $349.20 and a 12 month high of $553.72.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.50. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.98% and a net margin of 40.31%.The firm had revenue of $90.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $87.62 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.65 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.27%.

Microsoft News Summary Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s latest earnings showed stronger-than-expected profitability and revenue, with Azure growth and Copilot adoption reinforcing the view that substantial AI investment is beginning to generate returns. Hedge funds and institutional investors continue to favor Microsoft over some other mega-cap technology names. Hedge Funds Favor Microsoft Over Meta Positive Sentiment: Bernstein raised its Microsoft price target to $660 and maintained an Outperform rating, arguing that Microsoft’s data-center expansion is measured, flexible, and supported by durable cloud demand. Other analysts also identified Azure growth, backlog, and institutional buying as potential catalysts for a year-end rally. Bernstein Raises Microsoft Target Positive Sentiment: Reports that Microsoft may unveil its Maia 300 AI chip as early as September and secure production capacity for more than 300,000 units could reduce reliance on Nvidia processors, lower long-term AI costs, and support Microsoft’s cloud strategy. Microsoft Maia 300 Chip Report Microsoft Company Profile (Free Report)

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).

Further Reading Five stocks we like better than Microsoft Atlassian Just Pulled Off the Software Comeback Wall Street Wanted AST SpaceMobile Earnings Just Reminded Investors How Risky Space Can Be NVIDIA’s Rally Sets Up a Bigger Test Ahead of Earnings Apple’s Next iPhone Could Test How Much Pricing Power Is Left

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Posted by Defense World Staff on Aug 12th, 2026

Aristotle Atlantic Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report) by 3.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 346,829 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,771 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 6.0% of Aristotle Atlantic Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Aristotle Atlantic Partners LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $128,386,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MSFT. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 51.3% during the 2nd quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Shepherd Kaplan Krochuk LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 4.9% in the third quarter. Shepherd Kaplan Krochuk LLC now owns 431 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $223,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Fischer Investment Strategies LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Fischer Investment Strategies LLC now owns 697 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $337,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Pollock Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% in the third quarter. Pollock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,805 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,453,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Better Money Decisions LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.6% during the second quarter. Better Money Decisions LLC now owns 3,498 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,740,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets Several brokerages recently weighed in on MSFT. Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $510.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Argus decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $620.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Dbs Bank cut their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $678.00 to $573.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $490.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $586.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Forty-two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $559.16.

Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on Microsoft

Microsoft News Summary Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s latest earnings showed stronger-than-expected profitability and revenue, with Azure growth and Copilot adoption reinforcing the view that substantial AI investment is beginning to generate returns. Hedge funds and institutional investors continue to favor Microsoft over some other mega-cap technology names. Hedge Funds Favor Microsoft Over Meta Positive Sentiment: Bernstein raised its Microsoft price target to $660 and maintained an Outperform rating, arguing that Microsoft’s data-center expansion is measured, flexible, and supported by durable cloud demand. Other analysts also identified Azure growth, backlog, and institutional buying as potential catalysts for a year-end rally. Bernstein Raises Microsoft Target Positive Sentiment: Reports that Microsoft may unveil its Maia 300 AI chip as early as September and secure production capacity for more than 300,000 units could reduce reliance on Nvidia processors, lower long-term AI costs, and support Microsoft’s cloud strategy. Microsoft Maia 300 Chip Report Microsoft Stock Performance Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $503.81 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.74 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.23. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $407.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $407.37. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $349.20 and a 1 year high of $553.72.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.50. The company had revenue of $90.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $87.62 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 31.98%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.65 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 20th will be paid a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 20.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $496.48, for a total value of $2,388,068.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 42,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,188,276.96. This trade represents a 10.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 38,572 shares of company stock valued at $17,775,330. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Profile (Free Report)

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).

Further Reading Five stocks we like better than Microsoft Atlassian Just Pulled Off the Software Comeback Wall Street Wanted AST SpaceMobile Earnings Just Reminded Investors How Risky Space Can Be NVIDIA’s Rally Sets Up a Bigger Test Ahead of Earnings Apple’s Next iPhone Could Test How Much Pricing Power Is Left

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Satya Nadella's record $96.5 million pay package is really a mirror of how tightly his financial fate is now tied to Microsoft's (MSFT -0.45%) artificial intelligence (AI) future, and I think that matters a lot for anyone holding the stock. In fiscal 2025, Microsoft's board disclosed that Nadella's total compensation rose about 22%, from 79.1 million to roughly 96.5 million, the highest since he became CEO in 2014.

Microsoft had just posted a powerful year, with revenue up about 15%, operating income up 17%, and cloud revenue up 23% to nearly $169 billion, while Azure revenue grew 34% and surpassed $75 billion. The proxy statement and board commentary explicitly cited "exceptional progress in artificial intelligence" and said that Nadella's leadership had positioned Microsoft as a clear AI leader amid a generational technology shift.

Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft. Image source: Microsoft Corporation.

When you look at the structure of that pay, the alignment jumps out. The base salary is only $2.5 million. Around $9.5 million is a cash bonus. The rest, roughly $84 million, is stock awards that move directly with Microsoft's share price. The proxy explains that over 95% of his annual target compensation is performance-based, and at least 70% is equity. His performance stock awards are tied to long-term metrics, including total shareholder return relative to the S&P 500, Microsoft incentive plan revenue, Azure and other cloud services revenue, and Microsoft Cloud revenue. In other (more simple) words, Nadella gets paid when the business grows, margins hold up, the stock outperforms, and the cloud-plus-AI engine keeps compounding.

Today's Change

(

-0.45

%) $

-2.25

Current Price

$

503.81

What does this mean for investors? For investors like us, this is exactly what you want to see. There is obviously a gut reaction to a $96.5 million headline number, especially when the CEO-to-median-employee pay ratio is nearly 480-to-1, as of 2025. But the question is not whether the figure feels large. It is whether the incentives push the leader toward decisions that create durable value instead of short-term optics. Microsoft has deliberately avoided time-based stock grants for Nadella and uses overlapping performance periods, TSR modifiers, and multiyear vesting to keep him focused on long horizons rather than quarter-to-quarter spikes.

To me, the signal in this package is clear. Microsoft's board thinks artificial intelligence and cloud are the core of the story for the next decade, and it has structured Nadella's personal economics so that he wins only if shareholders win, too. You can debate the exact dollar amount, but if you own the stock, having a CEO whose pay lives and dies with the same AI-driven metrics that support your thesis is a lot better than the alternative.

© lcva2 / iStock Editorial via Getty Images

At $506.06, Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT | MSFT Price Prediction) is a Hold. Chasing the stock after a 31.41% one-month rip means paying up at the top of a short-term sentiment curve when a disciplined entry point is likely still ahead.

Microsoft is the world’s second-largest company by market value at roughly $3.71 trillion, anchored by Azure, Microsoft 365, and a widening AI stack that now includes its own MAI models. The most recent quarter was a blowout on almost every line that matters.

Fiscal Q4 revenue hit $90.007 billion, up 17.75%, with non-GAAP EPS of $4.74 beating consensus by 11.81%. The stock moved from $395.496 at filing to $506.06 in about two weeks.

The Bull Case: A Contracted Backlog That Keeps Compounding Commercial remaining performance obligations reached $678 billion, up 84% year over year, giving Microsoft years of contracted revenue visibility that few peers can match.

Azure grew 43% and crossed $100 billion in annual revenue for the first time. CFO Amy Hood guided Q1 FY2027 Azure growth to “approximately 45% in constant currency.” Microsoft 365 Copilot reached over 30 million paid seats, with net adds more than doubling quarter over quarter.

Wall Street reflects that momentum. Analysts carry a target of $563.35 with 14 Strong Buy and 40 Buy ratings against 3 Holds and zero Sells.

The Bear Case: Capex Is Eating the Cash Flow Q4 free cash flow fell 23.19% to $19.639 billion as capex jumped 109.63% to $35.802 billion. Hood signaled Q1 spending will be “over $50 billion.”

Valuation looks stretched. Shares trade at a P/E of 28 and a P/FCF of 56, and sit 2% below the 52-week high of $550.24. Insiders are net sellers across 35 recent transactions.

Reddit sentiment swung from bearish readings around AI “revenue circularity” concerns to 85 within days, a classic sentiment-extreme pattern.

The Hold Case: Great Business, Wrong Entry Point The business itself remains a strong long-term hold. Net income rose 31.33%, operating margin sits near 46.78%, and ROIC is 22.01%. This is a durable compounder.

The problem is timing. Polymarket assigns only a 31% probability that MSFT closes above $525 by end of August, with crowd expectations clustered in the $480–$510 range. Historical earnings data shows the average one-week reaction across six straight beats is 0%, meaning post-earnings consolidation is the norm.

Waiting for a pullback toward the recent base near $385, or for the next earnings-day dip, offers a cleaner risk profile than chasing a stock that has already run 22.9% in three months.

What the Numbers Say About the Setup Microsoft trades at $506.06 against a consensus target of $563.35, implying roughly 11% upside if that target is met. Coverage is deep at 57 analysts, and sentiment skews 95% bullish.

Shares are up 31.41% over the past month while the S&P 500 tracker rose 4.23% over roughly the same window. Year to date, MSFT is up 5.11%, and it is still down 2.28% over one year.

The Verdict: Own the Business, Time the Entry At $506.06, Microsoft is a Hold.

The fundamentals justify owning Microsoft. Azure just cleared $100 billion, RPO is up 84%, and Copilot has crossed 30 million paid seats. That is a Buy-worthy business.

The entry point is the problem. Buying after a 31.41% one-month move puts new capital in at the top of a sentiment spike, right as capex ramps toward “over $50 billion” next quarter and FCF is already down 23.19%. Prediction markets price only 31% odds of a close above $525 this month.

The trigger to upgrade is a pullback toward the mid-$400s, or a quarter where Azure growth accelerates while capex growth decelerates. The trigger to downgrade is any RPO or Azure deceleration paired with rising capex intensity. Until one of those prints, patience costs little and pays optionality.

Great company, wrong price, right time to wait.

Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.

Posted by Defense World Staff on Aug 11th, 2026

Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd lowered its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report) by 3.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 389,988 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 11,978 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 4.1% of Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $144,362,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Markel Group Inc. grew its holdings in Microsoft by 0.4% in the first quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 537,630 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $199,014,000 after purchasing an additional 1,950 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 8.4% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 6,921,677 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,562,197,000 after purchasing an additional 537,634 shares during the last quarter. Taylor Securities Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth $2,616,000. Werba Rubin Papier Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 15.7% in the 4th quarter. Werba Rubin Papier Wealth Management now owns 12,492 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $6,041,000 after purchasing an additional 1,698 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. grew its stake in Microsoft by 138.8% during the 1st quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 1,356,359 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $502,077,000 after buying an additional 788,297 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes A number of equities research analysts have commented on MSFT shares. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $540.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $680.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $545.00 to $512.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $640.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $510.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Forty-two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $559.16.

Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on MSFT

Insider Buying and Selling In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $496.48, for a total transaction of $2,388,068.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 42,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,188,276.96. This trade represents a 10.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total transaction of $519,111.08. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 46,003 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,922,874.02. This represents a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 38,572 shares of company stock valued at $17,775,330 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Microsoft Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

Positive Sentiment: Maia 300 chip plans support the rally: Reports say Microsoft could unveil its Maia 300 AI accelerator as early as September and secure capacity for more than 300,000 chips by 2027, with longer-term ambitions exceeding one million units. The effort could reduce Microsoft’s dependence on Nvidia, lower AI-computing costs and potentially attract customers such as Anthropic. Microsoft plans to unveil its new Maia 300 AI chip this fall Positive Sentiment: Analysts see measured AI investment and further upside: Bernstein raised its Microsoft price target from $647 to $660, arguing that the company is not building data-center capacity too aggressively. The firm said new infrastructure would remain useful for Azure even if AI demand moderated. Microsoft’s Datacenter Spending Is Disciplined Positive Sentiment: Cloud growth and backlog underpin investor confidence: JPMorgan cited Microsoft’s Azure expansion, substantial backlog and improving AI monetization while supporting higher market-wide earnings forecasts. Other bullish commentary points to strong recent results, including reported Azure growth and broad Copilot adoption. Microsoft Stock Rises as JPMorgan Backs AI Payoff Positive Sentiment: Capital returns add support: Microsoft’s large-scale dividends and share repurchases reinforce its position as a cash-generating technology leader, although investors are also evaluating how much capital is being redirected toward AI infrastructure. Microsoft Stock Runs One of the Market’s Biggest Cash-Return Machines Neutral Sentiment: AI opportunity comes with execution risks: Analysts continue debating whether megacap AI spending will generate adequate cash flow. Separately, reports of AI models reaching real-world systems could increase scrutiny of Microsoft’s autonomous-agent products and enterprise security controls. Negative Sentiment: Legal notices remain an overhang: Investor-rights firms are promoting a securities class action involving purchases made between May 1, 2025, and January 28, 2026, with an August 11 lead-plaintiff deadline. The notices do not establish liability but could add reputational and litigation risk. Microsoft Stock Up 1.2% Shares of MSFT stock opened at $506.06 on Tuesday. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $349.20 and a fifty-two week high of $553.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.76 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.23. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $405.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $406.95.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $90.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $87.62 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.65 earnings per share. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be paid a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.27%.

Microsoft Profile (Free Report)

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).

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Posted by Defense World Staff on Aug 11th, 2026

Bridgewater Advisors Inc. trimmed its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report) by 2.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 68,351 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,512 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 1.7% of Bridgewater Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. Bridgewater Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $27,696,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 51.3% in the 2nd quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Bernzott Capital Advisors acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. Fairway Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 287.0% during the 4th quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Finally, LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Microsoft In other Microsoft news, 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 directly owned 46,003 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,922,874.02. The trade was a 2.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $487.89, for a total transaction of $4,878,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 100,447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $49,007,086.83. This trade represents a 9.05% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 38,572 shares of company stock worth $17,775,330 in the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Microsoft Trading Up 1.2% NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $506.06 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.76 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.10. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $405.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $406.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 1.22. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $349.20 and a 12-month high of $553.72.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.50. The firm had revenue of $90.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $87.62 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.98% and a net margin of 40.31%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.65 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.58 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 20th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.27%.

Analyst Ratings Changes Several research firms recently commented on MSFT. Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $510.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $490.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $640.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $575.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Forty-two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $559.16.

Get Our Latest Research Report on Microsoft

Key Microsoft News Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

Positive Sentiment: Maia 300 chip plans support the rally: Reports say Microsoft could unveil its Maia 300 AI accelerator as early as September and secure capacity for more than 300,000 chips by 2027, with longer-term ambitions exceeding one million units. The effort could reduce Microsoft’s dependence on Nvidia, lower AI-computing costs and potentially attract customers such as Anthropic. Microsoft plans to unveil its new Maia 300 AI chip this fall Positive Sentiment: Analysts see measured AI investment and further upside: Bernstein raised its Microsoft price target from $647 to $660, arguing that the company is not building data-center capacity too aggressively. The firm said new infrastructure would remain useful for Azure even if AI demand moderated. Microsoft’s Datacenter Spending Is Disciplined Positive Sentiment: Cloud growth and backlog underpin investor confidence: JPMorgan cited Microsoft’s Azure expansion, substantial backlog and improving AI monetization while supporting higher market-wide earnings forecasts. Other bullish commentary points to strong recent results, including reported Azure growth and broad Copilot adoption. Microsoft Stock Rises as JPMorgan Backs AI Payoff Positive Sentiment: Capital returns add support: Microsoft’s large-scale dividends and share repurchases reinforce its position as a cash-generating technology leader, although investors are also evaluating how much capital is being redirected toward AI infrastructure. Microsoft Stock Runs One of the Market’s Biggest Cash-Return Machines Neutral Sentiment: AI opportunity comes with execution risks: Analysts continue debating whether megacap AI spending will generate adequate cash flow. Separately, reports of AI models reaching real-world systems could increase scrutiny of Microsoft’s autonomous-agent products and enterprise security controls. Negative Sentiment: Legal notices remain an overhang: Investor-rights firms are promoting a securities class action involving purchases made between May 1, 2025, and January 28, 2026, with an August 11 lead-plaintiff deadline. The notices do not establish liability but could add reputational and litigation risk. About Microsoft (Free Report)

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).

Read More Five stocks we like better than Microsoft SoundHound AI Sends a Loud Signal After Its Q2 Earnings Beat 3 Dividend Champion Utilities for a Market That Can’t Sit Still These 3 Most-Upgraded Stocks Have Almost Nothing to Do With AI First Solar’s Profit Engine Faces a New Policy Test in Washington Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MSFT? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report).

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JPMorgan highlighted Microsoft's cloud growth and backlog while raising its S&P 500 earnings and year-end forecasts. + GuruFocus.com on

Summary

Microsoft gained as stronger cloud economics supported JPMorgan’s bullish market revision.

Microsoft MSFT , the software and cloud giant behind Azure, reported accelerating cloud growth just as Wall Street gets more comfortable with the biggest question hanging over the AI boom: Are those staggering infrastructure bills actually paying off? Microsoft shares climbed roughly 1.7% Monday morning, and JPMorgan sees the answer increasingly tilting toward yes. The bank pointed to Microsoft, Alphabet GOOG and Amazon AMZN as evidence that hyperscaler AI spending is feeding into stronger revenue, helping drive its 2026 year-end S&P 500 SPY target to 8,000 from 7,800.

The bull case is starting to get some muscle behind it. JPMorgan lifted its S&P 500 earnings estimate to $365 per share for 2026 and $420 for 2027, up from $350 and $390. Stronger cloud growth, expanding backlogs and improving cash-flow visibility across the hyperscalers helped fuel that confidence. Microsoft is right in the middle of it. Azure growth is expected at roughly 45%, while the company plans to spend around $50 billion on capital expenditures in the current fiscal quarter alone. That number is enormous. But if Azure keeps growing anywhere near this pace, the conversation changes fast. Microsoft is no longer just spending heavily on AI. It is showing investors why it is spending heavily.

And the valuation does not look stretched against GuruFocus' estimate. Microsoft traded at $509.07 on Aug. 10 versus a GF Value of $575.48, putting the stock roughly 11.54% below that benchmark. That discount adds another layer to the story, but execution now matters more than the headline number. Microsoft is pouring tens of billions into AI infrastructure, so Azure needs to keep humming, backlog needs to turn into revenue and cash flow needs to keep up. If those pieces fall into place, the AI capex debate gets much simpler. Microsoft's giant spending bill stops looking like the risk. It starts looking like the fuel.

SHENZHEN, CHINA - JULY 23: In this photo illustration, a smartphone displays the logo of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT), an American technology company, in front of a screen showing the company's latest stock market chart on July 23, 2026 in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China. (Photo illustration by Cheng Xin/Getty Images)

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This article was written by Doug Nathman, with research by his team at Trefis.

The threat to Microsoft stock stems not from demand but rather from the costs associated with fulfilling that demand now, and the company's own forecast suggests decreasing margins.

Microsoft (MSFT) is currently valued at $499.86, boasting profitability levels that are at a multi-year high. Despite this, the stock has experienced a 4.5% decline over the last twelve months, while the S&P 500 has returned 23%. The main risk moving forward is not the failure of demand. Instead, it is the growth in business leading to the company attributing its diminishing gross margin, with management’s own fiscal 2027 forecast already incorporating a slight reduction in operating margins while still predicting double-digit growth in both revenue and operating income.

Net Margin Is At Its Highest While Gross Margin DeclinesThe net margin for the trailing twelve months stands at 40%, the peak level over the past five years and significantly above its three-year average of 37%. This figure is currently at a peak, and it pertains to the last twelve months. Gross margin, however, is declining: in fiscal Q4 2026, the company's gross margin was 67%, down year-over-year, even though the operating margin for that quarter increased to 45%. According to the company, the decrease in gross margin is attributed to a sales mix that is shifting towards Azure, coupled with ongoing investments in AI infrastructure. Azure experienced a growth of 43% during that quarter, and management anticipates that this growth will gain momentum in the initial half of fiscal 2027. Management reports that customer demand continues to surpass available capacity. The critical inquiry is the cost of fulfilling each additional unit of that demand.

The Capital Expenditure Appears as Cash FirstApproximately two-thirds of capital expenditures in fiscal Q4 2026 were allocated to short-lived assets, predominantly CPUs and GPUs. The cash flow from operations for that quarter was $55.4 billion; free cash flow stood at $19.6 billion, with the company noting an increase in capital expenditures. For context, the revenue for the trailing twelve months was $331.8 billion, and the company's stated capital plan for the calendar year 2026 is around $175 billion. Revenue from Windows OEM and Devices is projected to decline in the high teens during fiscal 2027, indicating that this older franchise is shrinkage while the capital is redirected. The risk associated with holding this stock now hinges on one capital cycle for a single company, and the Trefis High Quality Portfolio is designed to ensure its returns do not rely solely on a small group of major technology companies.

This Stock Has Already Decreased by One-Third Within a YearIn the last year, the stock's largest decline from peak to trough was 35%, and the current price is approximately 93% of the 52-week high. Such a setback is within the recent historical performance of this stock, and the market has largely rebounded the price. However, the options market does not appear to consider the situation resolved, as implied volatility sits in the 77th percentile of its trailing one-year range.

The truthful assessment is that the risks mentioned here are shaped by margin considerations rather than existential threats, and a considerable portion of the margin aspect is reflected in the company’s projections, which indicate full-year operating margins are expected to decrease by less than a point in fiscal 2027. A shift in this assessment would arise from changes in the gross margin, not from growth metrics. Should the price decline again, the pertinent question is whether the upcoming dip is worth purchasing, a decision that merits resolution in advance.

Dickmeyer Boyce Financial Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 14,901 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $5,516,000. Microsoft comprises about 3.2% of Dickmeyer Boyce Financial Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $50,664,631,000. Auto Owners Insurance Co grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 56,160.8% during the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 60,116,384 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $29,073,486,000 after buying an additional 60,009,531 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 1st quarter valued at $18,733,827,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 500.0% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 59,543,261 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $30,840,432,000 after acquiring an additional 49,618,571 shares during the period. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 49,640.3% in the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 29,967,038 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $14,905,904,000 after acquiring an additional 29,906,791 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $496.48, for a total transaction of $2,388,068.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 42,677 shares in the company, valued at $21,188,276.96. This trade represents a 10.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 46,003 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,922,874.02. The trade was a 2.67% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 38,572 shares of company stock valued at $17,775,330 in the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Price Performance NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $499.99 on Monday. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $349.20 and a 52 week high of $553.72. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.71 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.10. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $404.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $406.59.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.50. The company had revenue of $90.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $87.62 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.98% and a net margin of 40.31%.Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.65 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be given a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 20.27%.

Key Microsoft News Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

Positive Sentiment: Citi raised its Microsoft price target to $600. The upgrade follows Microsoft’s quarterly Azure performance, with analysts highlighting the 43% cloud-revenue increase and stronger-than-expected earnings as evidence that AI demand is translating into accelerating cloud growth. Citi Raises Microsoft Stock Target to $600 Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s custom AI chips may improve cloud economics. CEO Satya Nadella said the company’s internally developed chips can deliver efficiency gains of up to 40%. Better cost and energy efficiency could help Microsoft support AI workloads while protecting Azure margins. Microsoft Custom AI Chips Improve Efficiency Positive Sentiment: Azure is expanding in India. Microsoft opened a major Hyderabad data-center region and is committing approximately $20.5 billion to its Indian cloud and AI operations. Early customers include Adani Group and HDFC Bank, supporting the case for long-term international Azure growth. Microsoft Opens Largest India Data Center Hub Positive Sentiment: Fundamentals and institutional support remain strong. Microsoft recently exceeded quarterly revenue and EPS expectations, while Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square holds a reported $2.4 billion MSFT position. Scotiabank also raised its fiscal 2027 EPS estimate and maintained an Outperform rating. Bill Ackman Microsoft Stake Neutral Sentiment: AI demand is powerful but concentrated. Reports suggest OpenAI may account for a substantial portion of Microsoft’s AI sales, creating both a major growth engine and customer-concentration risk. Microsoft’s large AI backlog also does not guarantee equivalent future profitability. Negative Sentiment: Spending, margins and valuation remain concerns. Rising data-center capital expenditures and lower cloud gross margins could pressure cash flow if AI infrastructure costs grow faster than revenue. After the sharp post-earnings rally, the stock is also more vulnerable to profit-taking or disappointing guidance. Negative Sentiment: Insider sales and securities litigation add headline risk. CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares for roughly $4.9 million, and multiple law firms are publicizing a securities class action with an August 11 lead-plaintiff deadline. These developments do not establish wrongdoing but may weigh on near-term sentiment. Analysts Set New Price Targets MSFT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group set a $525.00 price target on Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Evercore set a $528.00 target price on Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Microsoft from $540.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. HSBC cut their price target on shares of Microsoft from $593.00 to $571.00 in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Phillip Securities lowered shares of Microsoft from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Forty-two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $558.87.

View Our Latest Stock Report on MSFT

Microsoft Company Profile (Free Report)

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).

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Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. raised its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report) by 49.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 138,606 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 45,793 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 2.3% of Coronation Fund Managers Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $51,308,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. 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 valued at $347,211,391,000 after acquiring an additional 15,955,898 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 6,388,930 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 1.1% in 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 in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $50,664,631,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Stock Performance Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $499.99 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $404.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $406.96. The stock has a market cap of $3.71 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.84, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $349.20 and a 12 month high of $553.72.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.50. Microsoft had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 31.98%. The firm had revenue of $90.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $87.62 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.65 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.27%.

Insiders Place Their Bets In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $496.48, for a total value of $2,388,068.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 42,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,188,276.96. The trade was a 10.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total value of $519,111.08. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 46,003 shares in the company, valued at $18,922,874.02. The trade was a 2.67% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 38,572 shares of company stock valued at $17,775,330. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Microsoft Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

Positive Sentiment: Citi raised its Microsoft price target to $600. The upgrade follows Microsoft’s quarterly Azure performance, with analysts highlighting the 43% cloud-revenue increase and stronger-than-expected earnings as evidence that AI demand is translating into accelerating cloud growth. Citi Raises Microsoft Stock Target to $600 Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s custom AI chips may improve cloud economics. CEO Satya Nadella said the company’s internally developed chips can deliver efficiency gains of up to 40%. Better cost and energy efficiency could help Microsoft support AI workloads while protecting Azure margins. Microsoft Custom AI Chips Improve Efficiency Positive Sentiment: Azure is expanding in India. Microsoft opened a major Hyderabad data-center region and is committing approximately $20.5 billion to its Indian cloud and AI operations. Early customers include Adani Group and HDFC Bank, supporting the case for long-term international Azure growth. Microsoft Opens Largest India Data Center Hub Positive Sentiment: Fundamentals and institutional support remain strong. Microsoft recently exceeded quarterly revenue and EPS expectations, while Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square holds a reported $2.4 billion MSFT position. Scotiabank also raised its fiscal 2027 EPS estimate and maintained an Outperform rating. Bill Ackman Microsoft Stake Neutral Sentiment: AI demand is powerful but concentrated. Reports suggest OpenAI may account for a substantial portion of Microsoft’s AI sales, creating both a major growth engine and customer-concentration risk. Microsoft’s large AI backlog also does not guarantee equivalent future profitability. Negative Sentiment: Spending, margins and valuation remain concerns. Rising data-center capital expenditures and lower cloud gross margins could pressure cash flow if AI infrastructure costs grow faster than revenue. After the sharp post-earnings rally, the stock is also more vulnerable to profit-taking or disappointing guidance. Negative Sentiment: Insider sales and securities litigation add headline risk. CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares for roughly $4.9 million, and multiple law firms are publicizing a securities class action with an August 11 lead-plaintiff deadline. These developments do not establish wrongdoing but may weigh on near-term sentiment. Analysts Set New Price Targets MSFT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, July 20th. BNP Paribas Exane dropped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $556.00 to $555.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 1st. DZ Bank reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $575.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Forty-two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $558.87.

Read Our Latest Report on Microsoft

About Microsoft (Free Report)

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).

Recommended Stories Five stocks we like better than Microsoft Quantum Earnings Week: Winners and Losers Are Finally Emerging Axon’s Post-Earnings Pullback May Be More About Valuation Than Growth Uber Stock Lags in 2026, But Cash Flow and AV Bets Fuel Upside AppLovin Stock Hits 52-Week Low as Analysts Trim Targets, Stay Bullish Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MSFT? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report).

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If you want quantum computing exposure without betting the farm on a pre‑profit science project, I think a case is building that Microsoft (MSFT +0.03%) is the more interesting option right now.

Microsoft is a $3 trillion AI stock whose own quantum roadmap has matured quietly in the background, and with sentiment cooled after a year of worry about AI spending, you're getting that quantum upside at what looks like a multiyear valuation low instead of peak euphoria.

Image source: Getty Images.

Microsoft is already a quantum platform Microsoft doesn't market itself as a quantum stock, but its Azure Quantum materials read like a company that has spent years building a full stack.

Azure Quantum is a cloud service where developers can run quantum programs today on hardware from partners such as IonQ (IONQ +11.86%), Rigetti (RGTI +8.53%), Quantinuum (QNT -0.29%), and Pasqal, or on advanced simulators, using the same Azure environment they use for AI and high-performance computing. That matters. Quantum is not off in a lab. It's already being wired into Microsoft's mainstream developer tools and cloud workflows.

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In its quantum overview, Microsoft describes Azure Quantum as an "open, flexible, and future-proofed path" that adapts to how customers actually work. The company is effectively acting as the orchestrator, sitting between enterprise demand and multiple hardware providers. That is a very different position from a single hardware vendor trying to persuade the world to come and build on its island.

Azure Quantum Elements and the long game The part that really shifts the story for me is Azure Quantum Elements. In 2023, Microsoft announced this system with a bold goal: Compress 250 years of chemistry and materials science progress into the next 25. Quantum Elements combines Azure high-performance computing, AI models from the AI4Science team, and quantum capabilities to let scientists search a vastly larger design space for new materials and molecules than classical tools alone can handle.

In its own words, Microsoft talks about speeding up some chemistry simulations by factors in the hundreds of thousands and expanding candidate materials from thousands to tens of millions. Customers are already using this stack to reshape their research pipelines today while preparing for scaled quantum hardware later. That is exactly the kind of "earn while you learn" model you want as an investor. The company now makes money from AI and high-performance computing while building the bridge to a future quantum supercomputer.

Why this looks different from pure plays Contrast that with the pure-play names. IonQ's latest investor materials outline a roadmap to multimillion-qubit systems by 2030 and highlight its position as a full-stack quantum platform spanning computing, networking, and sensing. Rigetti is focused on superconducting hardware, touting a 108-qubit processor available through Amazon Braket and a letter of intent for up to $100 million in U.S. government funding. D Wave is selling a 4,400-plus-qubit Advantage2 annealing system, emphasizing connectivity, coherence, and energy-efficient processing for optimization and materials use cases.

These companies are pushing the frontier and deserve credit for it. They are also, by design, narrow bets. Revenue is still modest, funding is lumpy, and their fortunes depend heavily on how quickly quantum workloads move from pilots to production. If you get the timing wrong, you're exposed to both technology risk and capital markets risk.

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With Microsoft, quantum is one pillar inside a much broader AI and cloud story. Azure Quantum rides on top of a business that already generates massive cash flows from AI, cloud infrastructure, and software, and that can fund long-duration R&D in topological qubits without betting the company. If the quantum timeline slips, you'll still be a leader in AI and cloud. If the timeline holds and Microsoft's qubit approach works, you're suddenly holding a stock that controls both the classical and quantum rails of the next computing era.

To me, the practical takeaway is simple. If you want exposure to quantum, but you also care deeply about downside protection, Microsoft offers a more balanced way in than IonQ, Rigetti, or D Wave. You get immediate participation in AI and cloud, plus optionality on quantum computing that's already being woven into real customer workloads, all at a valuation the market has derated from its AI peak.

CI Investments Inc. lowered its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report) by 19.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,159,396 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 508,758 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 3.9% of CI Investments Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. CI Investments Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $799,344,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth approximately $50,664,631,000. Auto Owners Insurance Co increased its holdings in Microsoft by 56,160.8% in the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 60,116,384 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $29,073,486,000 after purchasing an additional 60,009,531 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft in the 1st quarter worth approximately $18,733,827,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 500.0% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 59,543,261 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $30,840,432,000 after purchasing an additional 49,618,571 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 49,640.3% in the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 29,967,038 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $14,905,904,000 after purchasing an additional 29,906,791 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.0% NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $499.99 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.71 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.11. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $404.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $406.96. 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 52 week low of $349.20 and a 52 week high of $553.72.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.50. The company 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.65 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be given a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 20.27%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft In related news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $487.89, for a total value of $4,878,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 100,447 shares in the company, valued at approximately $49,007,086.83. The trade was a 9.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 46,003 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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. In the last quarter, insiders sold 38,572 shares of company stock worth $17,775,330. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Key Stories Impacting Microsoft Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

Positive Sentiment: Citi raised its Microsoft price target to $600. The upgrade follows Microsoft’s quarterly Azure performance, with analysts highlighting the 43% cloud-revenue increase and stronger-than-expected earnings as evidence that AI demand is translating into accelerating cloud growth. Citi Raises Microsoft Stock Target to $600 Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s custom AI chips may improve cloud economics. CEO Satya Nadella said the company’s internally developed chips can deliver efficiency gains of up to 40%. Better cost and energy efficiency could help Microsoft support AI workloads while protecting Azure margins. Microsoft Custom AI Chips Improve Efficiency Positive Sentiment: Azure is expanding in India. Microsoft opened a major Hyderabad data-center region and is committing approximately $20.5 billion to its Indian cloud and AI operations. Early customers include Adani Group and HDFC Bank, supporting the case for long-term international Azure growth. Microsoft Opens Largest India Data Center Hub Positive Sentiment: Fundamentals and institutional support remain strong. Microsoft recently exceeded quarterly revenue and EPS expectations, while Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square holds a reported $2.4 billion MSFT position. Scotiabank also raised its fiscal 2027 EPS estimate and maintained an Outperform rating. Bill Ackman Microsoft Stake Neutral Sentiment: AI demand is powerful but concentrated. Reports suggest OpenAI may account for a substantial portion of Microsoft’s AI sales, creating both a major growth engine and customer-concentration risk. Microsoft’s large AI backlog also does not guarantee equivalent future profitability. Negative Sentiment: Spending, margins and valuation remain concerns. Rising data-center capital expenditures and lower cloud gross margins could pressure cash flow if AI infrastructure costs grow faster than revenue. After the sharp post-earnings rally, the stock is also more vulnerable to profit-taking or disappointing guidance. Negative Sentiment: Insider sales and securities litigation add headline risk. CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares for roughly $4.9 million, and multiple law firms are publicizing a securities class action with an August 11 lead-plaintiff deadline. These developments do not establish wrongdoing but may weigh on near-term sentiment. Wall Street Analyst Weigh In MSFT has been the subject of a number of research reports. HSBC decreased their price target on Microsoft from $593.00 to $571.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Phillip Securities downgraded shares of Microsoft from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $540.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Dbs Bank lowered their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $678.00 to $573.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $640.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 30th. 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, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $558.87.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on Microsoft

Microsoft Company Profile (Free Report)

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).

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Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT | MSFT Price Prediction) at $499.86 sits at a pivotal level, and the fiscal 2026 earnings report is the reason. After a violent round trip that took shares from the low $500s down to the high $380s and back, the stock is once again testing the level bulls need to defend to keep the AI monetization narrative intact.

Microsoft is the second-largest company in the world by market cap, with a business anchored on Azure, Microsoft 365, and a widening AI stack built around Copilot and its restructured OpenAI relationship. Fiscal Q4 delivered $90.007 billion in revenue, up 17.75% year over year, and non-GAAP EPS of $4.74, the fifth consecutive quarter Microsoft has beaten Wall Street estimates.

The stock rebounded 28.55% over the past month, forcing every investor to make a call at $500. Azure crossed $100 billion in full-year revenue for the first time, growing 43% in Q4. Commercial Remaining Performance Obligations reached $678 billion, up 84% year over year, giving Microsoft one of the largest contracted revenue backlogs in enterprise software history. AI services contributed more than 11 percentage points to Azure growth, evidence that capex is converting into revenue.

Why the Earnings Report Justifies Paying Up Copilot passed 30 million paid seats against a 400 million Office 365 addressable base. At a forward P/E near 25, bulls argue you are paying a modest multiple for a business compounding revenue at 17.7% with a 45.1% operating margin.

Why the Capex Bill Could Break the Story Full-year capex hit $115.948 billion, up 79.62%, and free cash flow fell 6.46% for the year and 23.19% in Q4. Cash and equivalents dropped 30.78% year over year. Bears see two active securities class actions alleging misleading Copilot disclosures, and prediction markets assign only a 48% probability that MSFT finishes the week above $500.

Why Patience Has an Argument The stock is down 4.01% over the past year while the S&P 500 rose 21.46%. That relative weakness reflects real investor unease over capex intensity and Copilot monetization timing. Waiting one quarter to see whether free cash flow re-accelerates costs little if the thesis is durable.

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The Numbers Behind the Verdict Microsoft currently trades at $499.86 with a market cap near $3.62 trillion and a trailing P/E of 27. The consensus analyst price target sits at $562.73, implying meaningful upside from here, though targets are one input rather than a promise.

Coverage runs 57 analysts deep: 14 Strong Buy, 40 Buy, 3 Hold, and zero Sell ratings. Year to date, MSFT is up 3.82%, materially lagging the S&P 500’s 12.71% gain. That underperformance is the setup bulls are pricing.

Why $500 Is the Key Level At $500, Microsoft’s bull framework rests on three catalysts. First, RPO of $678 billion converts into recognized revenue over the next several quarters, giving the top line rare visibility at this scale. Second, Copilot’s 30 million seats represent early penetration, and usage-based enterprise pricing should expand gross margins as adoption deepens.

Third, the capex cycle peaks. Free cash flow compression is the bear’s best card, but the $250 billion incremental OpenAI Azure commitment and a $37 billion AI run rate up 123% suggest monetization is running ahead of depreciation. A single quarter of free cash flow re-acceleration re-rates the multiple.

The thesis breaks if Azure growth decelerates below the mid-30s or Copilot seat growth stalls. Absent that, paying 25x forward earnings for the AI infrastructure winner with a fortress balance sheet is what the bull case looks like at $500.

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Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.

Posted by Defense World Staff on Aug 6th, 2026

Commonwealth Financial Services LLC lowered its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report) by 17.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,331 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 3,462 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 1.0% of Commonwealth Financial Services LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $6,045,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 51.3% during the second quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Bernzott Capital Advisors bought a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Fairway Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 287.0% during the 4th quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $44,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes Several research firms have recently commented on MSFT. Arete Research increased their price objective on Microsoft from $730.00 to $870.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. President Capital upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Evercore set a $528.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. DZ Bank reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Forty-two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $558.87.

View Our Latest Analysis on Microsoft

More Microsoft News Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

Positive Sentiment: Azure and AI growth remain the main bullish drivers. Azure revenue surpassed $100 billion for fiscal 2026, while fourth-quarter cloud growth accelerated to 43%. Microsoft also reported quarterly revenue of $90.01 billion and earnings of $4.74 per share, both ahead of consensus estimates. Microsoft Azure Fiscal 2026 Sales Exceed $100B Positive Sentiment: Analyst confidence is strengthening. Tigress Financial raised its Microsoft price target to $690, citing durable AI and cloud growth, while Goldman Sachs reportedly added Microsoft to its high-conviction list. Tigress Raises Microsoft Price Target Positive Sentiment: Microsoft expanded its enterprise AI ecosystem through an A10 Networks warrant, a healthcare partnership with Assuta Medical Centers and deeper use of OpenAI models in GitHub Copilot. These developments could support AI adoption and recurring software demand. Neutral Sentiment: OpenAI concentration is drawing investor attention. Reports suggest OpenAI may represent roughly 70% of Microsoft’s AI revenue, highlighting both the commercial value of the partnership and the risk of relying heavily on one customer and technology partner. OpenAI May Account for 70% of Microsoft’s AI Revenue Negative Sentiment: Investors are reassessing valuation after a sharp rally. Commentary increasingly describes Microsoft as potentially overvalued or technically extended, encouraging profit-taking despite strong fundamentals. Negative Sentiment: Legal and insider-selling headlines add pressure. Multiple law firms promoted a securities-fraud class action alleging misleading Copilot and Azure-related disclosures, with an August 11 lead-plaintiff deadline. Separately, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares worth approximately $2.4 million, reducing his direct ownership by 10.13%. Negative Sentiment: Microsoft faces scrutiny over AI infrastructure spending, including more than $100 billion in future data-center lease commitments across Big Tech and potential optical-component supply constraints. These commitments could improve long-term capacity but raise concerns about capital intensity, execution and near-term margins. Microsoft Stock Down 1.1% MSFT opened at $487.46 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $402.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $406.03. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $349.20 and a 1-year high of $553.72. The stock has a market cap of $3.62 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.50. Microsoft had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 31.98%. The firm had revenue of $90.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $87.62 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.65 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 20th will be issued 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 dividend yield of 0.7%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 20.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling In other Microsoft news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 46,003 shares in the company, valued at $18,922,874.02. This trade represents a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.99, for a total value of $7,145,345.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 110,477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,928,792.23. This represents a 12.30% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 28,572 shares of company stock valued at $12,896,430. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Profile (Free Report)

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).

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Posted by Defense World Staff on Aug 6th, 2026

AlTi Global Inc. grew its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report) by 10.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 89,854 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 8,736 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 0.7% of AlTi Global Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position. AlTi Global Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $33,266,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. WFA Asset Management Corp boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 27.0% during the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $427,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the period. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,658,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 410.4% in the 3rd quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 2,659 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,144,000 after acquiring an additional 2,138 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. grew its position in Microsoft by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. now owns 2,374 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,000,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 23,097 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,735,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth A number of research firms recently issued reports on MSFT. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on Microsoft from $646.00 to $647.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. DZ Bank reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. BNP Paribas Exane reduced their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $556.00 to $555.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, New Street Research dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $675.00 to $600.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Forty-two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $558.87.

View Our Latest Analysis on MSFT

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft In other news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total value of $519,111.08. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 46,003 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,922,874.02. The trade was a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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 business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.99, for a total transaction of $7,145,345.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 110,477 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,928,792.23. This trade represents a 12.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 28,572 shares of company stock worth $12,896,430. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Trending Headlines about Microsoft Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

Positive Sentiment: Azure and AI growth remain the main bullish drivers. Azure revenue surpassed $100 billion for fiscal 2026, while fourth-quarter cloud growth accelerated to 43%. Microsoft also reported quarterly revenue of $90.01 billion and earnings of $4.74 per share, both ahead of consensus estimates. Microsoft Azure Fiscal 2026 Sales Exceed $100B Positive Sentiment: Analyst confidence is strengthening. Tigress Financial raised its Microsoft price target to $690, citing durable AI and cloud growth, while Goldman Sachs reportedly added Microsoft to its high-conviction list. Tigress Raises Microsoft Price Target Positive Sentiment: Microsoft expanded its enterprise AI ecosystem through an A10 Networks warrant, a healthcare partnership with Assuta Medical Centers and deeper use of OpenAI models in GitHub Copilot. These developments could support AI adoption and recurring software demand. Neutral Sentiment: OpenAI concentration is drawing investor attention. Reports suggest OpenAI may represent roughly 70% of Microsoft’s AI revenue, highlighting both the commercial value of the partnership and the risk of relying heavily on one customer and technology partner. OpenAI May Account for 70% of Microsoft’s AI Revenue Negative Sentiment: Investors are reassessing valuation after a sharp rally. Commentary increasingly describes Microsoft as potentially overvalued or technically extended, encouraging profit-taking despite strong fundamentals. Negative Sentiment: Legal and insider-selling headlines add pressure. Multiple law firms promoted a securities-fraud class action alleging misleading Copilot and Azure-related disclosures, with an August 11 lead-plaintiff deadline. Separately, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares worth approximately $2.4 million, reducing his direct ownership by 10.13%. Negative Sentiment: Microsoft faces scrutiny over AI infrastructure spending, including more than $100 billion in future data-center lease commitments across Big Tech and potential optical-component supply constraints. These commitments could improve long-term capacity but raise concerns about capital intensity, execution and near-term margins. Microsoft Price Performance MSFT stock opened at $487.46 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.62 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.14, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.11. Microsoft Corporation has a twelve month low of $349.20 and a twelve month high of $553.72. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $402.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $406.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.50. Microsoft had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 31.98%. The business had revenue of $90.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $87.62 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.65 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.56 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be given a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.27%.

Microsoft Profile (Free Report)

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).

Featured Stories Five stocks we like better than Microsoft SpaceX: Love the Company, But the Stock Is a Harder Call Ulta’s Growth Is Real, But So Are the Risks BWX Technologies Is Turning the AI Power Problem Into a Nuclear Growth Story Meta’s Earnings Drop Shows Wall Street Wants More Than Ad Growth Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MSFT? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report).

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