WCM Investment Management LLC Reduces Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

WCM Investment Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.0% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,924,322 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 18,644 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 1.6% of WCM Investment Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. WCM Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $690,755,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 717,942,580 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $347,211,391,000 after buying an additional 15,955,898 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.1% during 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 acquiring an additional 6,388,930 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 1,911,142 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 980,439 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $50,664,631,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Evercore set a $528.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 30th. President Capital raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $520.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $575.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. DZ Bank reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Microsoft from $540.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. 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.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $558.87.

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 Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $487.46 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $3.62 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.11. Microsoft Corporation has a 52-week low of $349.20 and a 52-week high of $553.72. 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 firm’s fifty day moving average is $402.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $406.03.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.50. The business 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 business’s revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.65 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company 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 dividend of $0.91 per share. 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 presently 20.27%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

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 stock was 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 in the company, valued at $18,922,874.02. This trade represents a 2.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of Microsoft 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 110,477 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. Over the last three months, insiders sold 28,572 shares of company stock valued at $12,896,430. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft 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).