Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. Purchases 5,428 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 5.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 108,493 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,428 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 0.9% of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $52,473,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. PMG Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the third quarter worth about $828,000. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 2.3% during the third quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 70,175 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $36,347,000 after buying an additional 1,572 shares in the last quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. grew its stake in Microsoft by 1.0% during the third quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 949,901 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $493,860,000 after buying an additional 9,700 shares in the last quarter. Werba Rubin Papier Wealth Management grew its stake 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 worth $6,041,000 after buying an additional 1,698 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 2,332.1% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 6,746,017 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,262,509,000 after buying an additional 6,468,645 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Several commentators remain bullish on Microsoft’s long-term AI outlook, arguing the stock looks attractive after the recent pullback and that Copilot/agentic AI could still drive upside. Microsoft Remains A Generational Buying Opportunity In The Agentic AI Era
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft continues to win AI-infrastructure-related business, including a new 260 MW solar supply deal that supports its data-center and cloud expansion needs. MN8 Energy Delivers 260 MW of Solar to Microsoft Across Two U.S. Power Markets
• Positive Sentiment: The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share, reinforcing Microsoft’s cash-generation strength and shareholder-return profile. Microsoft announces quarterly dividend
• Neutral Sentiment: Satya Nadella’s comments on using the right AI model for the right task highlight Microsoft’s push for AI efficiency, but also signal growing attention to AI compute costs. Satya Nadella Warns Against AI Overuse
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft limiting employee use of Anthropic’s Claude Fable 5 over data-retention concerns underscores tighter AI governance, though the direct financial impact appears limited. Microsoft limits employee use of Anthropic’s Claude Fable 5
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Xbox is preparing major layoffs and budget cuts are pressuring sentiment, as they point to restructuring and weaker confidence in the gaming segment. Microsoft’s Xbox plans for major layoffs next month
• Negative Sentiment: News that Microsoft is cutting jobs in its Azure unit in China adds to concerns about geopolitical friction and near-term cloud execution. Microsoft lays off hundreds from Azure unit in China
• Negative Sentiment: Broader commentary that AI data-center spending may be facing a reality check is weighing on the market’s enthusiasm for Microsoft’s heavy AI capex plans. Wall Street’s $800 Billion AI Data Center Bet Is Showing Cracks

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MSFT. Raymond James Financial downgraded shares of Microsoft from a “market perform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. President Capital increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $550.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $625.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Forty-one analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $561.20.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 110,477 shares in the company, valued at $50,928,792.23. This trade represents a 12.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 46,003 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,922,874.02. This trade represents a 2.67% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 19,262 shares of company stock worth $8,695,581 in the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.8%

MSFT opened at $390.34 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $410.65 and its 200-day moving average is $429.22. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $356.28 and a 1-year high of $555.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The company has a market cap of $2.90 trillion, a P/E ratio of 23.23, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.11.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.06 by $0.21. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.34% and a return on equity of 31.94%. The company had revenue of $82.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $81.44 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.46 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm 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 yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.67%.

Microsoft Company Profile

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

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