Manning & Napier Advisors LLC Has $350.14 Million Stock Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 31.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 945,896 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 224,651 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 4.9% of Manning & Napier Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $350,142,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC grew its holdings 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. Bernzott Capital Advisors bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Fairway Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 287.0% in the fourth quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Finally, University of Illinois Foundation bought a new stake in Microsoft in the second quarter valued at about $50,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Trending Headlines about Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft joined 25 tech companies in urging U.S. policymakers not to impose broad restrictions on open-weight and open-source AI models, a stance that supports its broader AI ecosystem strategy and could help preserve flexibility for future product development. Reuters article
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft also backed a coalition letter with Nvidia, Meta, and other firms arguing that open-weight AI is important for U.S. leadership, reinforcing investor confidence that the company remains a major AI platform player rather than being boxed into one model provider. Business Insider article
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s expanded Databricks partnership extends a key cloud/data-AI relationship through the 2030s, which should help Azure adoption and strengthen long-term enterprise demand for Microsoft’s cloud services. TipRanks article
• Neutral Sentiment: Several previews ahead of Microsoft’s July 29 earnings report say the big investor focus will be FY2027 CapEx guidance and Azure growth, with analysts expecting strong results but worrying that AI infrastructure spending could weigh on free cash flow and margins. MarketBeat article
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple law firms issued class-action alerts and deadline reminders tied to Microsoft securities-fraud claims, including allegations related to Copilot disclosures, which adds headline risk and may keep some investors cautious into earnings. GlobeNewswire article
• Negative Sentiment: Broader tech weakness tied to AI spending fears also weighed on Microsoft, as investors sold mega-cap names after seeing massive capital outlays across the sector and questioning near-term returns on AI investment. Fox Business article

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $381.70 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $349.20 and a 52 week high of $555.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.28. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $398.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $408.08. The firm has a market cap of $2.84 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.13.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $82.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $81.44 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.46 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.7 earnings per share 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 paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at approximately $18,922,874.02. This trade represents a 2.67% 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 link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.84, for a total value of $1,812,780.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 47,468 shares in the company, valued at $19,122,009.12. The trade was a 8.66% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 23,762 shares of company stock valued at $10,508,361 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on MSFT shares. HSBC cut their price objective on Microsoft from $593.00 to $571.00 in a report on Thursday, April 30th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $575.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Tigress Financial upped their price objective on Microsoft from $595.00 to $680.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Forty-two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $555.40.

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).