KBC Group NV Grows Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

KBC Group NV boosted its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 5,625,098 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 156,016 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 6.2% of KBC Group NV’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,720,410,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC lifted 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. Bayforest Capital Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the third quarter worth about $38,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $44,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the third quarter worth about $49,000. Finally, Daytona Street Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at about $50,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barclays decreased their price objective on Microsoft from $600.00 to $545.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $595.00 to $680.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday. Melius Research set a $430.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, January 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $562.44.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $414.10 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. Microsoft Corporation has a twelve month low of $356.28 and a twelve month high of $555.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.08 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a 50 day moving average of $396.15 and a 200-day moving average of $446.04.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.06 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $82.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $81.44 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.34% and a return on equity of 31.94%. The firm’s revenue was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.46 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.67%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

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

Microsoft News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Recent results and AI/cloud momentum: Microsoft reported another quarter of strong cloud and AI-driven revenue growth (Q3 revenue up ~18%) and continued order?book strength — underpinning the bull case for durable top-line expansion. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst lift: Some firms have raised targets (Arete bumped its target sharply), signaling that a portion of Wall Street sees upside from MSFT’s AI investments despite the pullback. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Xbox cost/strategy move: Xbox leadership stopped development of the console Copilot project — a move investors interpreted as removing a costly distraction and focusing resources on higher?return AI/cloud work. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Government AI oversight: Microsoft agreed to give U.S. agencies early access to new models for national?security testing — reduces regulatory uncertainty but also adds compliance scrutiny. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Workforce buyouts announced: The company launched a major voluntary buyout program — lowers near?term opex but risks losing institutional knowledge that could matter for complex AI projects. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Clean?energy target under review: Reports say Microsoft may delay or abandon its hourly 2030 clean?energy matching goal because rapid AI data?center growth is increasing power demand — this raises potential operating costs, reputational risk and regulatory scrutiny. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Higher capex and margin pressure: Microsoft’s 2026 capex plan has risen sharply (reports ~23% above expectations, large multiyear AI/data?center spending) — supports growth but increases near?term cash outflows and could compress margins. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Competitive/regulatory headwinds: Pentagon awarded a $500M AI contract to a Meta?backed Scale AI, and other competitors are landing meaningful deals — reminders that Microsoft faces fast?moving competition for AI infrastructure and government business. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Mixed analyst notes and trims: Some boutiques trimmed price targets despite beats, reflecting concerns that the market is pricing in AI costs rather than returns; this keeps downward pressure from more cautious investors. Read More.

About Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, Microsoft develops, licenses and supports a broad range of software products, services and devices for consumers, enterprises and governments worldwide. Its operations span personal computing, productivity software, cloud infrastructure, enterprise applications, developer tools and gaming.

Microsoft’s product portfolio includes the Windows operating system and the Microsoft 365 suite of productivity and collaboration tools (Office apps, Outlook, Teams).