Track market-moving stories before they get noisy

The cloud computing sector is one of the most interesting parts of the stock market right now. There are several companies spending more than $100 billion each to build and equip new data centers this year, and their capital expenditures are projected to rise once again in 2027. That's a ton of money being invested in this sector, but these companies wouldn't be doing it if they didn't see major potential.

The big three providers of cloud computing infrastructure are Amazon (AMZN -1.45%), Microsoft (MSFT -1.23%), and Alphabet (GOOG -0.60%) (GOOGL -0.64%). While Microsoft and Alphabet have exciting prospects, I'm far more bullish on Amazon for one reason: Amazon Web Services (AWS) has a bigger influence on its overall results than the cloud arms of Microsoft and Alphabet have on those companies. And it's easy to see why I'm so optimistic about it.

Image source: Getty Images.

AWS is seeing its growth accelerate
AWS is the biggest cloud computing service in the world, with a market share of about 28%. It was also the first to be launched. Although it looked to be falling behind the other two on artificial intelligence (AI) at the start of the AI race, Amazon has caught back up and established itself as a popular option for running AI workloads.

In its pursuit of that market, it has been spending more and more on cloud infrastructure, and it's on course for around $220 billion in data center capital expenditures this year. That leads the pack, but what returns on investment are shareholders seeing from those outlays?

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During the second quarter, AWS revenue grew 37% year over year. For comparison, it grew 28% during the first quarter and 24% in 2025's fourth quarter. That's a strong acceleration for a business the size of AWS, so it's clearly seeing a strong return on investment.

However, investors also want to see these cloud segments turn a real profit, and that's what separates AWS from its peers.

AWS is a huge part of Amazon's business
During the second quarter, AWS' operating income surged 64% year over year, and this is what makes Amazon a better stock pick than Microsoft or Alphabet. The company may be best known for its massive e-commerce operation, but such businesses produce pretty slim operating margins. By contrast, the core business units of Microsoft and Alphabet are high-margin software and advertising businesses.

GOOG Operating Margin data by YCharts; TTM = trailing 12 months.

During the second quarter, AWS posted a 39% operating margin. Alphabet's Google Cloud wasn't far off with a 36% operating income margin. Microsoft doesn't publicly break out its margin figures for individual segments, but I'd guess Azure's operating margin is likely in the same neighborhood.

So, Azure is actually not boosting Microsoft's operating profit margin by growing quickly, and Alphabet's Google Cloud is only helping its operating margin minimally. But AWS is providing a huge boost for Amazon as a whole: The segment accounted for 60% of Amazon's total operating income during the second quarter. This means that the faster AWS grows, the faster the company's overall profits grow, which gives it huge operating leverage.

Anytime a company is on the doorstep of major growth in a high-margin business like this, it should get investors excited, as major stock returns can follow. While all three tech leaders will reap huge benefits from growing their cloud computing business, the effect will be most felt at Amazon.

With Amazon spending hundreds of billions of dollars a year to transform its business, it's on the right track. I wouldn't be surprised to see its stock greatly outperform the other two over the next few years. As a result, I think it's one of the best big-tech stocks to buy now.

by Todd Bishop on

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella gives the company’s founding mission an AI update at Build in June, a preview of the “Windows Hybrid Intelligence” initiative that the company unveiled last week. (Photo by Dan DeLong for Microsoft)
In less than four months, Microsoft has added roughly half an Amazon to its market value.

The tech giant’s stock has gained about $1.4 trillion in value since early summer, rising from $352.83 on June 25, its lowest close in more than a year, to a record close of $543.45 on Tuesday, giving it a market value just above $4 trillion. The increase over that period is nearly as much as Tesla is worth.

As stock turnarounds go, it’s extraordinary. In January, Microsoft lost $357 billion in a single day, the biggest one-day drop in its history, as investors worried about the company’s AI spending and its reliance on OpenAI. By midsummer, Microsoft was the worst performer this year among the big tech stocks known as the “Magnificent Seven,” according to Morningstar.

The rebound accelerated in late July, when Microsoft reported that Azure, its cloud platform, grew 43% and topped $100 billion in annual revenue. The stock jumped 15.5% the next day. It has mostly kept climbing since, as Microsoft rolled out a revamped Copilot app, a new AI push for Windows and new AI chips.

Microsoft isn’t rising alone. The broader stock market has also been hitting record highs, led by AI stocks. The S&P 500 closed above 7,800 for the first time last week, even as the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield reached its highest level since 2002.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has been making a broader pitch along the way. In an essay posted on X in July, he warned that companies relying on outside AI labs “pay for intelligence twice, once with money, and again with something even more valuable,” meaning their own knowledge.

He urged businesses to keep control of that knowledge and avoid tying themselves to any one AI model. Microsoft sells access to models from OpenAI, Anthropic and others, along with its own.

Last weekend, he took up a related theme, calling on X for an “emergency brake” on advanced AI models. That means “separating the model from the harness that orchestrates its work,” he wrote. “We must assume a model is compromised and contain it from the start.”

The message also fits Microsoft’s business interests. As companies use AI models from multiple providers, the advantage could shift to companies like Microsoft that run the cloud and workplace software where businesses keep their data.

Microsoft reports its next quarterly results Oct. 28.

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On October 13, 2026, Microsoft Corp MSFT shares rose 0.4%, currently trading at $543.45. The stock has shown resilience with a 52-week range of $349.20 to $553.72.

GF Value™ verdict: 8.3% undervalued; current price vs GF Value of $592.48.GF Score™: 99/100 (Strong), indicating robust fundamentals and growth potential.Most notable signal: Insider selling activity has been significant, with a net selling of $112.6M over the past year.Is MSFT Overvalued or Undervalued?The current market price of Microsoft Corp MSFT at $543.45 is considered undervalued based on the GF Value™ estimate of $592.48, representing an 8.3% margin of safety. This assessment suggests that there is a potential upside for the stock, as the market has not fully recognized its intrinsic value. GF Value™ is derived from a combination of historical trading multiples, past performance, and future growth projections, which means it provides a comprehensive view of a company's worth.

With the GF Valuation label indicating that MSFT is fairly valued, investors might see this as an opportunity for growth. However, it is essential to consider the associated risks, especially in light of the significant insider selling over the past year. This could suggest that those closest to the company may not share the same optimism about its future performance.

How Does MSFT's Valuation Compare to Its History?MetricCurrentHistoricalP/E (TTM)30.3x33.4xForward P/E27.5xN/ACurrently, MSFT's P/E (TTM) of 30.3x is below its 5-year median of 33.4x, indicating that the stock is trading at a lower valuation compared to its historical average. The forward P/E of 27.5x further supports the view that MSFT is undervalued relative to its historical performance. This P/E analysis aligns with the GF Value™ verdict, reinforcing the assessment that MSFT presents an opportunity for investors looking for growth at a reasonable price.

What Does MSFT's GF Score™ Tell Us?The GF Score™ is a comprehensive measure of a company's financial health and growth potential, taking into account several key factors. With a remarkable score of 99 out of 100, MSFT demonstrates strong fundamentals across various dimensions.

MetricRatingGF Score™99Financial Strength8/10Profitability10/10Growth10/10Valuation9/10Momentum8/10The strong GF Score™ reflects exceptional profitability and growth ranks, both rated 10/10, indicating MSFT's ability to generate earnings and expand. However, the financial strength score of 8/10, while still solid, suggests there could be areas for improvement in the company's balance sheet. Overall, MSFT stands out as a strong candidate for investment, given its high scores across crucial metrics.

What Are Gurus and Insiders Doing with MSFT?Currently, 53 gurus hold shares of MSFT, with 22 adding to their positions and 29 trimming them in recent quarters. This mixed activity among institutional investors indicates a level of caution despite the stock's strong fundamentals.

In terms of insider activity, over the past 12 months, insiders acquired $2.0M worth of stock while selling $114.6M, resulting in a net selling of $112.6M. This significant selling might raise concerns about the outlook from those with the most intimate knowledge of the company's operations. Such patterns usually warrant careful consideration from potential investors as they reflect the sentiment of those closest to the company.

What This Means for InvestorsTaking into account the analysis above, Microsoft Corp MSFT appears undervalued based on the GF Value™ estimate. However, potential investors should weigh this opportunity against the notable insider selling and mixed signals from guru activity. As always, thorough due diligence is recommended before making investment decisions.

For a deeper dive into the company's performance and outlook, visit the Microsoft Corp MSFT stock page, and optionally check out the GF Value™ page for more insights.

Frequently Asked QuestionsWhat is MSFT's GF Score™?

MSFT has a GF Score™ of 99/100, indicating a strong financial position and growth potential compared to its peers.

Is MSFT overvalued or undervalued?

MSFT is currently undervalued, with a GF Value™ estimate of $592.48 against a market price of $543.45, suggesting an 8.3% upside.

What is MSFT's P/E ratio?

MSFT's P/E (TTM) is 30.3x, which is below its 5-year median of 33.4x, indicating that the stock is trading at a lower valuation compared to its historical averages.

This stock alert was generated using automated technology and GuruFocus financial data to provide readers with timely and accurate market reporting. This content was reviewed by GuruFocus editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to [email protected].

Microsoft, the cloud and software group MSFT , rose about 1.0% to $546.74 at 11.10am EST on October 13 as investors weighed its plans for Maia 300. The custom AI chip is set to become the main inference system for Microsoft's products and services, with deployments beginning in 2027. The prize is clear: handle more AI requests without letting the cost of serving them swallow the upside.

Microsoft's October 12 announcement projects up to seven times Maia 200's token throughput at rack scale and 40% more tokens per megawatt. Those are company expectations, not proven operating results. More throughput means greater processing capacity. Better power efficiency means more output from the electricity available. Neither figure tells investors exactly how much Microsoft will save per response—or how much of those savings will reach earnings.

The valuation picture shows shares trading 7.72% below the $592.48 GF Value estimate, suggesting a modest cushion rather than a wide margin of safety. Maia 300 could strengthen Microsoft's control over its AI costs, but designing the chip is only one step. Manufacturing, software integration and sustained utilization still have to deliver. The real test arrives when production workloads show whether the promised performance translates into cheaper AI services and stronger margins.

Peter Lee, the longtime Microsoft Research leader, plans to join the Mercedes Formula 1 team in a newly created AI advisor role.

Microsoft stock is on pace for a record closing high and Wall Street believes there's more upside.

Satya Nadella publicly asked for a way to stop his own AI products cold, and the reasoning behind that request has real consequences for whether Microsoft's massive spending bet pays off.

Satya Nadella spent a weekend post saying that AI systems need emergency off switches, by which he means authorized humans who can shut a model down in the middle of a task. The idea stands out. He runs Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT | MSFT Price Prediction), the company with the greatest commercial exposure to frontier AI, and he is publicly asking for a way to stop his own product mid-sentence.

Here is the key passage in full: “We can’t treat superintelligence as a set of nested black boxes and simply accept or reject its recommendations, answers and actions. We must build containment systems whose behavior we can observe, limits that we can test, and actions we can always contain.”

For investors, this is a product decision. Microsoft holds about a 27% stake in OpenAI and spent $115.95 billion on capital expenditures in fiscal 2026. Now it wants to sell customers the controls that can stop those systems.

The timing matters because over the past year the stock rose only 6.78%, while the S&P 500 gained 19.15%.

What an AI Emergency Brake Looks Like Inside Your Company
In engineering terms, an emergency off switch is four ordinary pieces of software, the first of which is a set of breakpoints inside long-running agent tasks, so a person can pause the job between steps.

The second is permission scopes that limit which files, systems, and accounts an agent can touch, and the third is logging that records what the agent did and why it did it.

The fourth is an identity layer that decides who is allowed to stop the agent. Companies already buy every one of these tools to manage their employees.

Microsoft already sells the version built for agents. Agent 365 had nearly 40 million agents registered two months after it launched.

Verification Tax Could Decide Copilot Renewals
The most useful idea in this debate is what you might call the verification tax. If employees spend hours checking what a model produced, the checking eats part of the promised productivity gain. Customers stop renewing software whose output they cannot trust, and renewal rates are how this industry gets valued.

Microsoft 365 Copilot passed 30 million paid seats. Purview, Microsoft’s compliance tool, tracked more than 15 billion Copilot interactions, up nearly 360% year over year.

That audit volume shows customers already want a record of what the AI did. When a system’s behavior can be observed, checking it costs less, and that protects the renewal.

Containment Favors the Company That Owns Identity
Governance, audit trails, and permissions are enterprise software problems. Microsoft already runs the identity and compliance layer where corporate customers manage their people, so selling control over agents extends a business it already has.

Nadella has said “every model is substitutable,” and Azure AI Foundry offers more than 11,000 models. If you can swap one model for another, the lasting value sits in the control layer around them.

A more cynical read has merit. The incumbent with the largest frontier position gains when safety rules raise the cost of entry for everyone behind it, because only well-funded companies can afford to make powerful models observable, testable, and interruptible. That incentive can exist even if Nadella’s concern about safety is genuine.

Capex Is Climbing Faster Than Proof of Return
The market wants to see a return on the spending before it shows up in reported numbers. Fourth-quarter capex was $35.80 billion, up 109.6%, and management expects fiscal 2027 spending to grow again. A containment framework will not answer that question soon, although it protects the renewal base that pays for the spending.

The picks-and-shovels side of AI is in demand. The power, cooling, and networking suppliers behind every hyperscaler’s capex line are why we pulled seven of them into a free report you can grab here.

Demand data supports the spending, as Azure grew 43%, and revenue already under contract but not yet recorded reached $678 billion.

Two signals would weaken the bull case. The first is AI features handed out free to defend seats when they should be sold as paid add-ons to existing enterprise agreements. The second is capex guidance that keeps rising without matching revenue growth.

What Investors Should Weigh in MSFT Stock Now
At about 30 times earnings and $541.15 a share, investors pay a modest premium for a company whose net income rose 31.3% in fiscal 2026.

The governance positioning adds value because it ties AI usage to identity and compliance contracts that customers rarely replace.

A year of trailing the market has brought down expectations, although a 0.66% dividend yield offers little buffer if capex keeps rising.

Microsoft holds a distinctive position in this market. Standalone model developers lack the enterprise control layer, and Microsoft also collects OpenAI’s $250 billion Azure commitment.

Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.

Azure is accelerating, the commercial backlog just hit a staggering new record, and Wall Street is nearly unanimous on the stock. So why does free cash flow keep shrinking, and what does that mean for where Microsoft goes from here?

Shares of Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT | MSFT Price Prediction) trade at $534.55. The 24/7 Wall St. price target sits at $636.14, which implies 19% upside over 12 months. The stock gets a buy rating with high confidence.

Metric
Value

Current Price
$534.55

Price Target from 24/7 Wall St.
$636.14

Upside
19.0%

Recommendation
BUY

Confidence Level
90%

Azure Acceleration Pushes Shares Toward Highs
Microsoft is up 4.24% this week, 8.22% over the past month and 11.23% year to date. It sits 2.7% below its 52-week high of $549.20.

Fiscal Q4 revenue reached $90.01 billion, exceeding the $87.63 billion estimate, and EPS of $4.74 beat the $4.24 consensus. Azure grew 43%, and commercial backlog rose 84% to $678 billion.

Why Bulls See $738 and Beyond
Management guided Q1 Azure growth to about 45% and said “demand continues to exceed available supply.” Microsoft 365 Copilot has passed 30 million paid seats.

Wall Street’s consensus target is $587.63, with 14 Strong Buy and 39 Buy ratings. Our bull scenario reaches $738.76.

Capex Strain Is the Risk to Track
Fiscal 2026 capex rose 79.62% to $115.95 billion, and free cash flow fell 6.46%. Microsoft Cloud gross margin also slid to 65%.

On the other side, operating cash flow grew 34.35%, and much of the spending goes to short-lived chips that can be restricted (we featured seven suppliers supporting this kind of expansion, from power to cooling, in a free AI infrastructure report). The bear case sits at $539.40.

Is Microsoft Pricier Than Alphabet and Amazon?
Google parent Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) competes directly through Google Cloud.

Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) runs AWS, the largest rival hyperscaler. Both trade at lower forward multiples than Microsoft. Microsoft’s higher margin helps explain its modest premium, which makes our target look reasonable.

Company
Forward P/E
Operating Margin

Microsoft
25x
45.1%

Alphabet
23x
34%

Amazon
24x
13.7%

Cloud Momentum Earns a BUY Rating
A 24/7 Wall St. price target of $636.14 comes with a buy rating and 90% confidence. The commercial backlog is the deciding factor. Keep an eye on whether Azure growth keeps speeding up and whether free cash flow keeps falling without margin recovery.

Year
Price Target from 24/7 Wall St.

2026
$636.14

2027
$702.42

2028
$775.60

2029
$856.41

2030
$945.64

The projections rest on Microsoft continuing to execute its current strategy. Faster Copilot adoption or a decline in AI demand could shift them sharply.

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Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.

Puzo Michael J bought a new position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 38,446 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $14,341,000. Microsoft comprises approximately 3.7% of Puzo Michael J’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MSFT. Frankly Finances LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft during the second quarter valued at $35,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 37.4% during the second quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. now owns 125 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter valued at about $60,000. Glynn Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 34.2% during the 2nd quarter. Glynn Capital Management LLC now owns 255 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $95,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $101,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions 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 directly owned 100,447 shares in the company, valued at approximately $49,007,086.83. This represents a 9.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Amy Hood sold 41,674 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $498.27, for a total transaction of $20,764,903.98. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 533,624 shares in the company, valued at approximately $265,888,830.48. This trade represents a 7.24% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 143,009 shares of company stock valued at $71,420,699 over the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Trending Headlines about Microsoft Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week: Positive Sentiment: Maia 300 AI chip is the key catalyst. Microsoft unveiled its third-generation Maia 300 processor and plans to begin production deployments in 2027, eventually scaling the platform to multiple gigawatts and potentially as many as one million chips. The company says Maia 300 can deliver approximately 40% more AI-generated tokens per megawatt or dollar than leading GPU-based systems, which could lower Azure costs and improve margins. Microsoft reveals Maia 300 AI chip Positive Sentiment: Greater control over AI supply and economics. Microsoft intends to make Maia a primary architecture for AI inference while continuing to use chips from Nvidia, AMD and Intel. Investors viewed the strategy as a way to reduce dependence on expensive, supply-constrained Nvidia hardware and strengthen Azure’s competitive position. Microsoft to rely more on homegrown AI chips Positive Sentiment: Underlying growth remains strong. Recent coverage points to Azure growth guidance of 44%–45%, rising Copilot adoption, a record backlog and more than $50 billion in quarterly capital spending to meet AI demand. These trends reinforce the bullish long-term case, although the October 28 earnings report will test whether growth remains above investor expectations. Neutral Sentiment: AI safety and infrastructure constraints remain in focus. CEO Satya Nadella and President Brad Smith called for stronger safeguards, emergency controls and clearer AI regulation. Separately, industry leaders highlighted electricity and cooling capacity as potential limits on AI expansion. These issues may increase compliance and infrastructure costs but could also benefit Microsoft’s enterprise-focused approach. Negative Sentiment: Regulatory and legal risks increased. The U.S. suspended Microsoft from the PERM green-card program amid scrutiny of its H-1B hiring practices, potentially complicating access to technical talent. Norway also fined Microsoft subsidiary Xandr approximately €8.6 million for sharing Grindr user data. Microsoft PERM suspension Negative Sentiment: Valuation and execution risks persist. Some analysts downgraded Microsoft amid concerns about elevated AI capital spending, high expectations and the need for Azure growth to remain above 40%. The departure of longtime science president Peter Lee is an additional, though relatively minor, leadership concern. Microsoft Price Performance Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $541.15 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $4.02 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.13, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.10. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $502.22 and a 200 day moving average of $436.28. 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 one year low of $349.20 and a one year high of $553.72.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report) last posted 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 firm had revenue of $90.01 billion during 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 was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.65 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 19th will be issued a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 19th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.27%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth Several analysts recently weighed in on MSFT shares. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, September 3rd. William Blair began coverage on Microsoft in a research note on Monday, October 5th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Melius Research set a $665.00 price target on Microsoft and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 5th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $540.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Forty-two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $579.84.

View Our Latest Report on Microsoft

Microsoft Company Profile (Free Report)

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company that develops software, cloud services, devices, gaming products and business solutions. Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, the company is best known for the Windows operating system and Microsoft Office productivity software. Microsoft is headquartered in Redmond, Washington, and serves consumers, businesses, governments and educational institutions worldwide.

Microsoft’s productivity and business offerings include Microsoft 365 applications such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook, along with collaboration tools including Teams.

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Trillium Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report) during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 399,983 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $149,203,000. Microsoft comprises 4.6% of Trillium Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Auto Owners Insurance Co lifted its stake in Microsoft by 56,160.8% in the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 60,116,384 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $29,073,486,000 after purchasing an additional 60,009,531 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 234.5% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 17,822,280 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $8,619,211,000 after buying an additional 12,493,786 shares during the period. Amundi grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 30.8% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 41,675,076 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $15,426,862,000 after buying an additional 9,814,598 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 64.3% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 24,264,779 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $8,982,083,000 after buying an additional 9,493,778 shares during the period. Finally, Diamant Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Microsoft by 38,442.1% in the 1st quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,810,388 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,521,001,000 after purchasing an additional 6,792,718 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity 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 value of $2,388,068.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 42,677 shares in the company, valued at $21,188,276.96. The trade was a 10.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 86,525 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $501.46, for a total value of $43,388,826.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 486,763 shares in the company, valued at $244,092,173.98. This trade represents a 15.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 143,009 shares of company stock worth $71,420,699 over the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Key Stories Impacting Microsoft Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week: Positive Sentiment: Maia 300 AI chip is the key catalyst. Microsoft unveiled its third-generation Maia 300 processor and plans to begin production deployments in 2027, eventually scaling the platform to multiple gigawatts and potentially as many as one million chips. The company says Maia 300 can deliver approximately 40% more AI-generated tokens per megawatt or dollar than leading GPU-based systems, which could lower Azure costs and improve margins. Microsoft reveals Maia 300 AI chip Positive Sentiment: Greater control over AI supply and economics. Microsoft intends to make Maia a primary architecture for AI inference while continuing to use chips from Nvidia, AMD and Intel. Investors viewed the strategy as a way to reduce dependence on expensive, supply-constrained Nvidia hardware and strengthen Azure’s competitive position. Microsoft to rely more on homegrown AI chips Positive Sentiment: Underlying growth remains strong. Recent coverage points to Azure growth guidance of 44%–45%, rising Copilot adoption, a record backlog and more than $50 billion in quarterly capital spending to meet AI demand. These trends reinforce the bullish long-term case, although the October 28 earnings report will test whether growth remains above investor expectations. Neutral Sentiment: AI safety and infrastructure constraints remain in focus. CEO Satya Nadella and President Brad Smith called for stronger safeguards, emergency controls and clearer AI regulation. Separately, industry leaders highlighted electricity and cooling capacity as potential limits on AI expansion. These issues may increase compliance and infrastructure costs but could also benefit Microsoft’s enterprise-focused approach. Negative Sentiment: Regulatory and legal risks increased. The U.S. suspended Microsoft from the PERM green-card program amid scrutiny of its H-1B hiring practices, potentially complicating access to technical talent. Norway also fined Microsoft subsidiary Xandr approximately €8.6 million for sharing Grindr user data. Microsoft PERM suspension Negative Sentiment: Valuation and execution risks persist. Some analysts downgraded Microsoft amid concerns about elevated AI capital spending, high expectations and the need for Azure growth to remain above 40%. The departure of longtime science president Peter Lee is an additional, though relatively minor, leadership concern. Analysts Set New Price Targets A number of research firms have issued reports on MSFT. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Microsoft from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday. Melius Research set a $665.00 target price on shares of Microsoft and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Citigroup raised shares of Microsoft from a “market outperform” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Finally, KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, September 3rd. Forty-two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $579.84.

Check Out Our Latest Analysis on MSFT

Microsoft Price Performance MSFT opened at $541.15 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $4.02 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.10. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $502.22 and a 200-day moving average price of $436.28. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $349.20 and a 1 year high of $553.72. 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 (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.50. The business 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 business’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 company earned $3.65 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 19th will be given a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 19th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 20.27%.

Microsoft Company Profile (Free Report)

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company that develops software, cloud services, devices, gaming products and business solutions. Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, the company is best known for the Windows operating system and Microsoft Office productivity software. Microsoft is headquartered in Redmond, Washington, and serves consumers, businesses, governments and educational institutions worldwide.

Microsoft’s productivity and business offerings include Microsoft 365 applications such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook, along with collaboration tools including Teams.

Recommended Stories Five stocks we like better than Microsoft Salesforce Just Got a Rare Double Upgrade—What Changed? OpenAI’s Revenue Scare Could Be a Big Opportunity for Investors China Still Dominates Rare Earths—These 3 U.S. Companies Could Benefit 3 REITs That May Win in a Higher Interest Rate Environment 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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Vise Technologies Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 375,993 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $140,253,000. Microsoft makes up 1.6% of Vise Technologies Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest holding.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Frankly Finances LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the second quarter valued at $35,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 37.4% in the 2nd quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. now owns 125 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth $60,000. Glynn Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 34.2% in the 2nd quarter. Glynn Capital Management LLC now owns 255 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $95,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth about $101,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
MSFT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Scotiabank lifted their price target on Microsoft from $510.00 to $615.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $700.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price objective on Microsoft from $522.00 to $608.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 21st. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, CLSA reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Forty-two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $579.84.

Read Our Latest Research Report on Microsoft
Insiders Place Their Bets
In related news, EVP Amy Hood sold 41,674 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $498.27, for a total transaction of $20,764,903.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 533,624 shares in the company, valued at $265,888,830.48. The trade was a 7.24% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 86,525 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $501.46, for a total value of $43,388,826.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 486,763 shares in the company, valued at $244,092,173.98. This trade represents a 15.09% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 143,009 shares of company stock valued at $71,420,699 over the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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

Positive Sentiment: Maia 300 AI chip is the key catalyst. Microsoft unveiled its third-generation Maia 300 processor and plans to begin production deployments in 2027, eventually scaling the platform to multiple gigawatts and potentially as many as one million chips. The company says Maia 300 can deliver approximately 40% more AI-generated tokens per megawatt or dollar than leading GPU-based systems, which could lower Azure costs and improve margins. Microsoft reveals Maia 300 AI chip
Positive Sentiment: Greater control over AI supply and economics. Microsoft intends to make Maia a primary architecture for AI inference while continuing to use chips from Nvidia, AMD and Intel. Investors viewed the strategy as a way to reduce dependence on expensive, supply-constrained Nvidia hardware and strengthen Azure’s competitive position. Microsoft to rely more on homegrown AI chips
Positive Sentiment: Underlying growth remains strong. Recent coverage points to Azure growth guidance of 44%–45%, rising Copilot adoption, a record backlog and more than $50 billion in quarterly capital spending to meet AI demand. These trends reinforce the bullish long-term case, although the October 28 earnings report will test whether growth remains above investor expectations.
Neutral Sentiment: AI safety and infrastructure constraints remain in focus. CEO Satya Nadella and President Brad Smith called for stronger safeguards, emergency controls and clearer AI regulation. Separately, industry leaders highlighted electricity and cooling capacity as potential limits on AI expansion. These issues may increase compliance and infrastructure costs but could also benefit Microsoft’s enterprise-focused approach.
Negative Sentiment: Regulatory and legal risks increased. The U.S. suspended Microsoft from the PERM green-card program amid scrutiny of its H-1B hiring practices, potentially complicating access to technical talent. Norway also fined Microsoft subsidiary Xandr approximately €8.6 million for sharing Grindr user data. Microsoft PERM suspension
Negative Sentiment: Valuation and execution risks persist. Some analysts downgraded Microsoft amid concerns about elevated AI capital spending, high expectations and the need for Azure growth to remain above 40%. The departure of longtime science president Peter Lee is an additional, though relatively minor, leadership concern.

Microsoft Stock Performance
Microsoft stock opened at $541.15 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 1.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.02 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.10. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $349.20 and a 1-year high of $553.72. The company’s 50-day moving average is $502.22 and its 200 day moving average is $436.28.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share (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 analyst estimates of $87.62 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.98% and a net margin of 40.31%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.65 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.65 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 19th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 20.27%.

Microsoft Company Profile
(Free Report)

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company that develops software, cloud services, devices, gaming products and business solutions. Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, the company is best known for the Windows operating system and Microsoft Office productivity software. Microsoft is headquartered in Redmond, Washington, and serves consumers, businesses, governments and educational institutions worldwide.

Microsoft’s productivity and business offerings include Microsoft 365 applications such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook, along with collaboration tools including Teams.

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SGL Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 24,859 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $12,580,000. Microsoft comprises about 4.4% of SGL Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest position.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Auto Owners Insurance Co boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 56,160.8% in the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 60,116,384 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $29,073,486,000 after purchasing an additional 60,009,531 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 234.5% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 17,822,280 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $8,619,211,000 after buying an additional 12,493,786 shares during the last quarter. Amundi raised its stake in Microsoft by 30.8% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 41,675,076 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $15,426,862,000 after buying an additional 9,814,598 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 64.3% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 24,264,779 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $8,982,083,000 after buying an additional 9,493,778 shares during the period. Finally, Diamant Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 38,442.1% during the 1st quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,810,388 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,521,001,000 after buying an additional 6,792,718 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance
NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $541.15 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $502.22 and its 200 day moving average is $436.28. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $349.20 and a 12 month high of $553.72. The company has a market capitalization of $4.02 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.10. 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 posted 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $87.62 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.65 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Microsoft Increases Dividend
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 19th. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 20.27%.

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

Positive Sentiment: Maia 300 AI chip is the key catalyst. Microsoft unveiled its third-generation Maia 300 processor and plans to begin production deployments in 2027, eventually scaling the platform to multiple gigawatts and potentially as many as one million chips. The company says Maia 300 can deliver approximately 40% more AI-generated tokens per megawatt or dollar than leading GPU-based systems, which could lower Azure costs and improve margins. Microsoft reveals Maia 300 AI chip
Positive Sentiment: Greater control over AI supply and economics. Microsoft intends to make Maia a primary architecture for AI inference while continuing to use chips from Nvidia, AMD and Intel. Investors viewed the strategy as a way to reduce dependence on expensive, supply-constrained Nvidia hardware and strengthen Azure’s competitive position. Microsoft to rely more on homegrown AI chips
Positive Sentiment: Underlying growth remains strong. Recent coverage points to Azure growth guidance of 44%–45%, rising Copilot adoption, a record backlog and more than $50 billion in quarterly capital spending to meet AI demand. These trends reinforce the bullish long-term case, although the October 28 earnings report will test whether growth remains above investor expectations.
Neutral Sentiment: AI safety and infrastructure constraints remain in focus. CEO Satya Nadella and President Brad Smith called for stronger safeguards, emergency controls and clearer AI regulation. Separately, industry leaders highlighted electricity and cooling capacity as potential limits on AI expansion. These issues may increase compliance and infrastructure costs but could also benefit Microsoft’s enterprise-focused approach.
Negative Sentiment: Regulatory and legal risks increased. The U.S. suspended Microsoft from the PERM green-card program amid scrutiny of its H-1B hiring practices, potentially complicating access to technical talent. Norway also fined Microsoft subsidiary Xandr approximately €8.6 million for sharing Grindr user data. Microsoft PERM suspension
Negative Sentiment: Valuation and execution risks persist. Some analysts downgraded Microsoft amid concerns about elevated AI capital spending, high expectations and the need for Azure growth to remain above 40%. The departure of longtime science president Peter Lee is an additional, though relatively minor, leadership concern.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
Several brokerages have issued reports on MSFT. Barclays dropped their target price on Microsoft from $545.00 to $512.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. 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. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $680.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. BNP Paribas Exane downgraded shares of Microsoft from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 5th. Finally, William Blair assumed coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, October 5th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Forty-two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $579.84.

View Our Latest Stock Analysis on MSFT

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft
In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 86,525 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $501.46, for a total value of $43,388,826.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 486,763 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $244,092,173.98. This trade represents a 15.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 100,447 shares in the company, valued at approximately $49,007,086.83. This trade represents a 9.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 143,009 shares of company stock worth $71,420,699 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

About Microsoft
(Free Report)

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company that develops software, cloud services, devices, gaming products and business solutions. Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, the company is best known for the Windows operating system and Microsoft Office productivity software. Microsoft is headquartered in Redmond, Washington, and serves consumers, businesses, governments and educational institutions worldwide.

Microsoft’s productivity and business offerings include Microsoft 365 applications such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook, along with collaboration tools including Teams.

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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).

Receive News & Ratings for Microsoft Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Microsoft and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.

Live Oak Investment Partners bought a new position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 7,338 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $2,737,000. Microsoft accounts for 1.5% of Live Oak Investment Partners’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Auto Owners Insurance Co increased its position in 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 acquiring an additional 60,009,531 shares during the last quarter. Amundi raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 30.8% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 41,675,076 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $15,426,862,000 after acquiring an additional 9,814,598 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 10.5% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 29,323,744 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $10,852,884,000 after acquiring an additional 2,784,809 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 64.3% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 24,264,779 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $8,982,083,000 after acquiring an additional 9,493,778 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 22,138,798 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $10,715,379,000 after acquiring an additional 1,599,412 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 86,525 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $501.46, for a total value of $43,388,826.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 486,763 shares in the company, valued at approximately $244,092,173.98. This represents a 15.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 100,447 shares in the company, valued at $49,007,086.83. The trade was a 9.05% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 143,009 shares of company stock valued at $71,420,699. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance Microsoft stock opened at $541.15 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $502.22 and a 200-day moving average price of $436.28. 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 fifty-two week low of $349.20 and a fifty-two week high of $553.72. The company has a market capitalization of $4.02 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.10. 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 (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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $87.62 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.65 earnings per share. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 19th will be given a dividend of $0.98 per share. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 19th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.27%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Evercore upgraded shares of Microsoft from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 5th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Microsoft from an “overweight” rating to a “negative” rating in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Microsoft in a research report on Monday, October 5th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Tigress Financial upped their target price on Microsoft from $680.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $575.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Forty-two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $579.84.

Read Our Latest Report on MSFT

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

Positive Sentiment: Maia 300 AI chip is the key catalyst. Microsoft unveiled its third-generation Maia 300 processor and plans to begin production deployments in 2027, eventually scaling the platform to multiple gigawatts and potentially as many as one million chips. The company says Maia 300 can deliver approximately 40% more AI-generated tokens per megawatt or dollar than leading GPU-based systems, which could lower Azure costs and improve margins. Microsoft reveals Maia 300 AI chip Positive Sentiment: Greater control over AI supply and economics. Microsoft intends to make Maia a primary architecture for AI inference while continuing to use chips from Nvidia, AMD and Intel. Investors viewed the strategy as a way to reduce dependence on expensive, supply-constrained Nvidia hardware and strengthen Azure’s competitive position. Microsoft to rely more on homegrown AI chips Positive Sentiment: Underlying growth remains strong. Recent coverage points to Azure growth guidance of 44%–45%, rising Copilot adoption, a record backlog and more than $50 billion in quarterly capital spending to meet AI demand. These trends reinforce the bullish long-term case, although the October 28 earnings report will test whether growth remains above investor expectations. Neutral Sentiment: AI safety and infrastructure constraints remain in focus. CEO Satya Nadella and President Brad Smith called for stronger safeguards, emergency controls and clearer AI regulation. Separately, industry leaders highlighted electricity and cooling capacity as potential limits on AI expansion. These issues may increase compliance and infrastructure costs but could also benefit Microsoft’s enterprise-focused approach. Negative Sentiment: Regulatory and legal risks increased. The U.S. suspended Microsoft from the PERM green-card program amid scrutiny of its H-1B hiring practices, potentially complicating access to technical talent. Norway also fined Microsoft subsidiary Xandr approximately €8.6 million for sharing Grindr user data. Microsoft PERM suspension Negative Sentiment: Valuation and execution risks persist. Some analysts downgraded Microsoft amid concerns about elevated AI capital spending, high expectations and the need for Azure growth to remain above 40%. The departure of longtime science president Peter Lee is an additional, though relatively minor, leadership concern. Microsoft Company Profile (Free Report)

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company that develops software, cloud services, devices, gaming products and business solutions. Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, the company is best known for the Windows operating system and Microsoft Office productivity software. Microsoft is headquartered in Redmond, Washington, and serves consumers, businesses, governments and educational institutions worldwide.

Microsoft’s productivity and business offerings include Microsoft 365 applications such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook, along with collaboration tools including Teams.

Recommended Stories Five stocks we like better than Microsoft Salesforce Just Got a Rare Double Upgrade—What Changed? OpenAI’s Revenue Scare Could Be a Big Opportunity for Investors China Still Dominates Rare Earths—These 3 U.S. Companies Could Benefit 3 REITs That May Win in a Higher Interest Rate Environment

Receive News & Ratings for Microsoft Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Microsoft and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.

Latash Investments LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report) during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 4,610 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $1,720,000. Microsoft comprises 1.3% of Latash Investments LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest holding.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 229,490 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $85,604,000 after purchasing an additional 8,773 shares during the period. Markel Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% during the 1st 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 period. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 8.4% during the first 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 last quarter. Taylor Securities Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at about $2,616,000. Finally, Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 138.8% during the first 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 buying an additional 788,297 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes
Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings raised Microsoft from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $515.00 to $490.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Citigroup raised Microsoft from a “market outperform” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 5th. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $586.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, July 27th. Forty-two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $579.84.

View Our Latest Stock Report on Microsoft
Insider Buying and Selling
In other Microsoft news, EVP Amy Hood sold 41,674 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $498.27, for a total transaction of $20,764,903.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 533,624 shares in the company, valued at $265,888,830.48. This represents a 7.24% 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. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 42,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,188,276.96. The trade was a 10.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 143,009 shares of company stock valued at $71,420,699. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.1%
NASDAQ MSFT opened at $541.15 on Tuesday. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $349.20 and a 1-year high of $553.72. The company has a market capitalization of $4.02 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.13, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.10. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $502.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $436.28. 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 issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.50. The business 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 period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.65 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 19th will be given a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 19th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.27%.

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

Positive Sentiment: Maia 300 AI chip is the key catalyst. Microsoft unveiled its third-generation Maia 300 processor and plans to begin production deployments in 2027, eventually scaling the platform to multiple gigawatts and potentially as many as one million chips. The company says Maia 300 can deliver approximately 40% more AI-generated tokens per megawatt or dollar than leading GPU-based systems, which could lower Azure costs and improve margins. Microsoft reveals Maia 300 AI chip
Positive Sentiment: Greater control over AI supply and economics. Microsoft intends to make Maia a primary architecture for AI inference while continuing to use chips from Nvidia, AMD and Intel. Investors viewed the strategy as a way to reduce dependence on expensive, supply-constrained Nvidia hardware and strengthen Azure’s competitive position. Microsoft to rely more on homegrown AI chips
Positive Sentiment: Underlying growth remains strong. Recent coverage points to Azure growth guidance of 44%–45%, rising Copilot adoption, a record backlog and more than $50 billion in quarterly capital spending to meet AI demand. These trends reinforce the bullish long-term case, although the October 28 earnings report will test whether growth remains above investor expectations.
Neutral Sentiment: AI safety and infrastructure constraints remain in focus. CEO Satya Nadella and President Brad Smith called for stronger safeguards, emergency controls and clearer AI regulation. Separately, industry leaders highlighted electricity and cooling capacity as potential limits on AI expansion. These issues may increase compliance and infrastructure costs but could also benefit Microsoft’s enterprise-focused approach.
Negative Sentiment: Regulatory and legal risks increased. The U.S. suspended Microsoft from the PERM green-card program amid scrutiny of its H-1B hiring practices, potentially complicating access to technical talent. Norway also fined Microsoft subsidiary Xandr approximately €8.6 million for sharing Grindr user data. Microsoft PERM suspension
Negative Sentiment: Valuation and execution risks persist. Some analysts downgraded Microsoft amid concerns about elevated AI capital spending, high expectations and the need for Azure growth to remain above 40%. The departure of longtime science president Peter Lee is an additional, though relatively minor, leadership concern.

About Microsoft
(Free Report)

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company that develops software, cloud services, devices, gaming products and business solutions. Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, the company is best known for the Windows operating system and Microsoft Office productivity software. Microsoft is headquartered in Redmond, Washington, and serves consumers, businesses, governments and educational institutions worldwide.

Microsoft’s productivity and business offerings include Microsoft 365 applications such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook, along with collaboration tools including Teams.

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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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NWK Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 29,240 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $10,907,000. Microsoft comprises 3.4% of NWK Group Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Frankly Finances LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth about $35,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Microsoft by 37.4% in the 2nd quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. now owns 125 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at about $60,000. Glynn Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 34.2% in the 2nd quarter. Glynn Capital Management LLC now owns 255 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $95,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. purchased a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $101,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

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

Positive Sentiment: Maia 300 AI chip is the key catalyst. Microsoft unveiled its third-generation Maia 300 processor and plans to begin production deployments in 2027, eventually scaling the platform to multiple gigawatts and potentially as many as one million chips. The company says Maia 300 can deliver approximately 40% more AI-generated tokens per megawatt or dollar than leading GPU-based systems, which could lower Azure costs and improve margins. Microsoft reveals Maia 300 AI chip Positive Sentiment: Greater control over AI supply and economics. Microsoft intends to make Maia a primary architecture for AI inference while continuing to use chips from Nvidia, AMD and Intel. Investors viewed the strategy as a way to reduce dependence on expensive, supply-constrained Nvidia hardware and strengthen Azure’s competitive position. Microsoft to rely more on homegrown AI chips Positive Sentiment: Underlying growth remains strong. Recent coverage points to Azure growth guidance of 44%–45%, rising Copilot adoption, a record backlog and more than $50 billion in quarterly capital spending to meet AI demand. These trends reinforce the bullish long-term case, although the October 28 earnings report will test whether growth remains above investor expectations. Neutral Sentiment: AI safety and infrastructure constraints remain in focus. CEO Satya Nadella and President Brad Smith called for stronger safeguards, emergency controls and clearer AI regulation. Separately, industry leaders highlighted electricity and cooling capacity as potential limits on AI expansion. These issues may increase compliance and infrastructure costs but could also benefit Microsoft’s enterprise-focused approach. Negative Sentiment: Regulatory and legal risks increased. The U.S. suspended Microsoft from the PERM green-card program amid scrutiny of its H-1B hiring practices, potentially complicating access to technical talent. Norway also fined Microsoft subsidiary Xandr approximately €8.6 million for sharing Grindr user data. Microsoft PERM suspension Negative Sentiment: Valuation and execution risks persist. Some analysts downgraded Microsoft amid concerns about elevated AI capital spending, high expectations and the need for Azure growth to remain above 40%. The departure of longtime science president Peter Lee is an additional, though relatively minor, leadership concern. Insider Transactions at Microsoft In related news, EVP Amy Hood sold 41,674 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $498.27, for a total value of $20,764,903.98. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 533,624 shares in the company, valued at approximately $265,888,830.48. This trade represents a 7.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 86,525 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $501.46, for a total transaction of $43,388,826.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 486,763 shares in the company, valued at approximately $244,092,173.98. This trade represents a 15.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 143,009 shares of company stock worth $71,420,699 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock. Microsoft Trading Up 1.1% MSFT stock opened at $541.15 on Tuesday. 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 company has a market cap of $4.02 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.13, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.10. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $502.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $436.28. 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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.50. The firm had revenue of $90.01 billion during 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 quarterly revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.65 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.65 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 19th. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.27%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Raymond James Financial cut shares of Microsoft from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 23rd. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $490.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Citizens Jmp reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, September 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $640.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $575.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Forty-two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $579.84.

Read Our Latest Report on MSFT

Microsoft Company Profile (Free Report)

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company that develops software, cloud services, devices, gaming products and business solutions. Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, the company is best known for the Windows operating system and Microsoft Office productivity software. Microsoft is headquartered in Redmond, Washington, and serves consumers, businesses, governments and educational institutions worldwide.

Microsoft’s productivity and business offerings include Microsoft 365 applications such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook, along with collaboration tools including Teams.

Featured Articles Five stocks we like better than Microsoft Salesforce Just Got a Rare Double Upgrade—What Changed? OpenAI’s Revenue Scare Could Be a Big Opportunity for Investors China Still Dominates Rare Earths—These 3 U.S. Companies Could Benefit 3 REITs That May Win in a Higher Interest Rate Environment 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).

Receive News & Ratings for Microsoft Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Microsoft and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.

Ninepoint Partners LP acquired a new stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 4,256 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $1,588,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Frankly Finances LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter worth about $35,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 37.4% in the 2nd quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. now owns 125 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $60,000. Glynn Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 34.2% during the 2nd quarter. Glynn Capital Management LLC now owns 255 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $95,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $101,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Trading Up 1.1% NASDAQ MSFT opened at $541.15 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.02 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.13, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.10. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $502.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $436.28. 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 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 firm had revenue of $90.01 billion during 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 business’s revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.65 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Microsoft Increases Dividend The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 19th will be given a $0.98 dividend. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 19th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 20.27%.

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

Positive Sentiment: Maia 300 AI chip is the key catalyst. Microsoft unveiled its third-generation Maia 300 processor and plans to begin production deployments in 2027, eventually scaling the platform to multiple gigawatts and potentially as many as one million chips. The company says Maia 300 can deliver approximately 40% more AI-generated tokens per megawatt or dollar than leading GPU-based systems, which could lower Azure costs and improve margins. Microsoft reveals Maia 300 AI chip Positive Sentiment: Greater control over AI supply and economics. Microsoft intends to make Maia a primary architecture for AI inference while continuing to use chips from Nvidia, AMD and Intel. Investors viewed the strategy as a way to reduce dependence on expensive, supply-constrained Nvidia hardware and strengthen Azure’s competitive position. Microsoft to rely more on homegrown AI chips Positive Sentiment: Underlying growth remains strong. Recent coverage points to Azure growth guidance of 44%–45%, rising Copilot adoption, a record backlog and more than $50 billion in quarterly capital spending to meet AI demand. These trends reinforce the bullish long-term case, although the October 28 earnings report will test whether growth remains above investor expectations. Neutral Sentiment: AI safety and infrastructure constraints remain in focus. CEO Satya Nadella and President Brad Smith called for stronger safeguards, emergency controls and clearer AI regulation. Separately, industry leaders highlighted electricity and cooling capacity as potential limits on AI expansion. These issues may increase compliance and infrastructure costs but could also benefit Microsoft’s enterprise-focused approach. Negative Sentiment: Regulatory and legal risks increased. The U.S. suspended Microsoft from the PERM green-card program amid scrutiny of its H-1B hiring practices, potentially complicating access to technical talent. Norway also fined Microsoft subsidiary Xandr approximately €8.6 million for sharing Grindr user data. Microsoft PERM suspension Negative Sentiment: Valuation and execution risks persist. Some analysts downgraded Microsoft amid concerns about elevated AI capital spending, high expectations and the need for Azure growth to remain above 40%. The departure of longtime science president Peter Lee is an additional, though relatively minor, leadership concern. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades MSFT has been the topic of a number of research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $660.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, August 10th. William Blair initiated coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, October 5th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $680.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $586.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Evercore raised shares of Microsoft from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Forty-two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $579.84.

View Our Latest Stock Report on Microsoft

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 42,677 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,188,276.96. The trade was a 10.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 86,525 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $501.46, for a total transaction of $43,388,826.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 486,763 shares in the company, valued at $244,092,173.98. This trade represents a 15.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 143,009 shares of company stock worth $71,420,699. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Profile (Free Report)

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company that develops software, cloud services, devices, gaming products and business solutions. Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, the company is best known for the Windows operating system and Microsoft Office productivity software. Microsoft is headquartered in Redmond, Washington, and serves consumers, businesses, governments and educational institutions worldwide.

Microsoft’s productivity and business offerings include Microsoft 365 applications such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook, along with collaboration tools including Teams.

Featured Articles Five stocks we like better than Microsoft Salesforce Just Got a Rare Double Upgrade—What Changed? OpenAI’s Revenue Scare Could Be a Big Opportunity for Investors China Still Dominates Rare Earths—These 3 U.S. Companies Could Benefit 3 REITs That May Win in a Higher Interest Rate Environment

Receive News & Ratings for Microsoft Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Microsoft and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.

Zacks Thematic Screens lets you dive into over 30 dynamic investment themes shaping the future. Whether you're interested in cutting-edge technology, renewable energy, or healthcare innovations, our themes help you invest in ideas that matter to you.

Let’s take a closer look at the ‘Cloud Computing’ theme and analyze a stock within, namely Microsoft (MSFT - Free Report) .

Cloud Computing Overview

Cloud computing refers to the on-demand seamless access of computing resources such as servers, storage, databases, networking, software, analytics, and intelligence over the Internet (the cloud) on a pay-per-use pricing model.

It marks a paradigm shift from traditional on-premises infrastructure storage to remote cloud-based storage facilities and relies heavily on virtualization and automation technologies. Instead of buying, owning, and maintaining physical data centers and servers, organizations access a virtual pool of shared resources from a cloud service provider on an as-needed basis.

This lowers operating costs, increases productivity with greater agility and flexibility, and improves scalability with higher economies of scale.

Microsoft Reassures Cloud Concerns

Microsoft posted strong results in its latest release, with sales up 18% YoY and earnings up 23% YoY. It delivered strong Cloud results, a key benchmark that has been watched closely amid the billions it’s been investing in AI infrastructure.

Microsoft’s Intelligent Cloud results include Azure, its cloud computing platform that provides AI computing power to businesses. Intelligent Cloud revenue came in at $39.3 billion, beating our consensus estimate handily and growing at an accelerated rate of 32% YoY.

Bottom Line

Thematic investing has emerged as a powerful way for investors to sync their portfolios with emerging trends. A mix of long-term and short-term themes is increasingly dictating which companies lead as economies expand and markets shift.

While stocks in each theme aren't direct recommendations, they offer a solid starting point. Leverage the Zacks Rank and other metrics to identify the best stocks for your strategy. Each featured stock comes with a Zacks report, giving you the tools to analyze performance and potential.

The Cloud Computing thematic list, which currently includes Microsoft (MSFT - Free Report) , focuses on technology companies that provide the related hardware and software to enable cloud computing services, the communication service providers that offer the network facilities and the various firms that utilize the services across diverse sectors like financial, consumer discretionary and industrials.

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Analyst’s Disclosure: I/we have no stock, option or similar derivative position in any of the companies mentioned, but may initiate a beneficial Long position through a purchase of the stock, or the purchase of call options or similar derivatives in MSFT over the next 72 hours. 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.

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.

Microsoft is installing the latest version of its Maia chips in data centers to power its AI software using mostly homegrown hardware. The company expects to stock multiple gigawatts of its Maia chips, with the Maia 300 starting to roll out next year.

As Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) stock eyes a rally past its 52-week peak, driven by renewed prospects in the artificial intelligence (AI) industry, three Wall Street analysts have issued their 12-month price targets.

On October 12, 2026, Raimo Lenschow, a Wall Street analyst at Barclays PLC (NYSE: BCS), reiterated a ‘Buy’ rating for Microsoft stock for the next 12 months. Lenschow raised the bank’s 12-month price target to $600 from $512.

Earlier on Monday, Brad Zelnick, an expert at Deutsche Bank, reaffirmed a ‘Buy’ rating for MSFT. Zelnick also raised the firm’s 12-month price target to $600 from $550.

With Microsoft stock trading at $539.10 at the time of writing, these analysts signal a possible 11.30% upside over the next 12 months during Monday’s pre-market session.

MSFT stock prediction. Source: TipRanks Meanwhile, Phillip Securities downgraded MSFT stock to a ‘Neutral’ rating from ‘Buy. 

MSFT stock prediction  At the time of reporting, 37 Wall Street analysts surveyed over the past three months at TipRanks have set an average 12-month price target for MSFT of $587.27.

MSFT stock prediction. Source: TipRanks As such, these analysts indicate a possible upside of less than 10% over the next 12 months. Notably, the highest MSFT price target set by these analysts is $725 from Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC), while the lowest is $440 from Rothschild.

Is Microsoft a good stock to buy? After getting trapped in a bear market during the first half of 2026, Microsoft stock is on the cusp of rallying into a new all-time high (ATH). At the time of publication, the company had a market capitalization of about $4 trillion.

Microsoft stock weekly chart. Source: TradingView Amid the renewed bullish outlook for MSFT, Wall Street analysts expect further upside to a new ATH in the next 12 months. 

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Over the next 20 years, demand for electricity is expected to be six times higher than it was between 2005 and 2025. That step change in demand is being driven by new technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and electric vehicles. Nuclear power is expected to play an important part in meeting that demand, leading to something of a renaissance for the industry.

You could play into that revival with high-risk investments, such as Oklo (OKLO -5.64%) or NuScale Power (SMR -6.74%). Both are money-losing upstarts attempting to build small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs). Or you could play it safe with dividend stocks like Constellation Energy (CEG -1.26%), Brookfield Renewable (BEP -0.58%), and NextEra Energy (NEE +1.23%). Here's why the dividend stocks could be a better choice.

Image source: Getty Images.

Earnings are likely years away When it comes to nuclear power, Oklo and NuScale are at the cutting edge. Both are attempting to build small modular nuclear reactors. Oklo wants to build and operate its own reactors, while NuScale wants to build reactors and sell them to others to operate. SMRs are exciting because their small size and modern safety technology would allow them to be placed closer to where they are used. Think about an artificial intelligence data center powered by an SMR, which would help it avoid taxing the electric grid and driving electricity prices higher.

There's just one problem. Oklo generated $1.4 million dollars of revenue in the second quarter of 2026, versus operating expenses of $74.4 million. NuScale's situation looks even worse, with revenues of $75,000 and operating expenses of just over $64 million. Simple math shows they are both bleeding red ink.

OKLO data by YCharts

Clearly, neither of these stocks is appropriate for risk-averse investors. In fact, it could be years before either is sustainably profitable. And since they aren't yet profitable, you can forget about dividends.

Three dividend options across the risk spectrum But you can invest in nuclear power while generating dividend income, with options to suit different risk profiles. For example, Constellation Energy works outside of the regulated utility market, selling power directly to customers. It operates the largest fleet of nuclear reactors in the United States, with major nuclear power deals with Microsoft (MSFT +1.25%), Meta (META +3.83%), and Amazon (AMZN -0.49%) to help each build out its AI infrastructure.

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The yield is a bit miserly at roughly 0.5%, but the real story here is about growth. Notably, since Constellation isn't a regulated utility, it can charge market rates for the power it sells. Given today's strong demand for electricity, this independent power producer is well-positioned to profit.

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NextEra Energy is another utility option, with its planned acquisition of Dominion Energy (D +1.05%) expected to push it into the number two spot in the U.S. nuclear space. Dominion, notably, operates in one of the world's most important data center markets. NextEra's dividend yield is 3.2%, and the dividend has been increased annually for over 30 years. And it operates both a large regulated utility and one of the world's largest solar and wind power businesses. It is a comfortable middle ground between growth and income.

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For those seeking more income, Brookfield Renewable and its lofty 5.3% yield would be appropriate. The business owns a globally diversified portfolio of clean energy assets, including hydroelectric, solar, and wind power, as well as storage assets. But it also owns a stake in Westinghouse, one of the world's largest nuclear energy service providers. It is a less direct play on the space, since it is basically a picks-and-shovels opportunity. But it has been a reliable dividend grower over the past decade, with an average distribution increase of 5% a year, and offers a very attractive yield right now. If you are trying to live off your dividends, it could be a good fit and provide some exposure to nuclear power.

You don't have to jump in with both feet While Oklo and NuScale Power offer investors a chance to be at the leading edge of nuclear technology, they also carry significant risks. If you focus on dividend stocks, you can avoid some of those risks, but you can still lean into growth with a company like Constellation Energy. Or you can look at a growth-and-income stock like NextEra Energy, which is leaning into nuclear and AI through its planned acquisition of Dominion Energy. For those trying to maximize yield, Brookfield Renewable could be the best choice, even though nuclear is only one part of a much more diversified clean energy portfolio.

Here at Zacks, we offer our members many different opportunities to take full advantage of the stock market, as well as how to invest in ways that lead to long-term success.

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The service also includes the Focus List, which is a long-term portfolio of top stocks that boast a winning, market-beating combination of growth and momentum qualities.

Breaking Down the Zacks Focus ListBuilding an investment portfolio from scratch can be difficult, so if you could, wouldn't you take a peek at a curated list of top stocks?

That's what the Zacks Focus List offers. It's a portfolio of 50 stocks that serve as a starting point for long-term investors to build their individual portfolios. The stocks included in the list are set to outperform the market over the next 12 months.

Additionally, each selection is accompanied by a full Zacks Analyst Report, something that makes the Focus List even more valuable. The report explains in detail why each stock was picked and why we believe it's good for the long-term.

The portfolio's past performance only solidifies why investors should consider it as a starting point. For 2020, the Focus List gained 13.85% on an annualized basis compared to the S&P 500's return of 9.38%. Cumulatively, the portfolio has returned 2,519.23% while the S&P returned 854.95%. Returns are for the period of February 1, 1996 to March 31, 2021.

Focus List MethodologyWhen stocks are picked for the Focus List, it reflects our enduring reliance on the power of earnings estimate revisions.

Brokerage analysts are in charge of determining a company's growth and profitability expectations, or earnings estimates. These analysts work together with company management to evaluate all factors that may affect future earnings, like interest rates, the economy, and sector and industry optimism.

Investors also need to look at what a company will earn down the road. This is why earnings estimate revisions are so important.

The stocks that receive positive changes to earnings estimates are more likely to receive even more upward changes in the future. Take this example: if an analyst raised their estimates last month, they'll probably do so again this month, and other analysts will follow.

Harnessing the power of earnings estimate revisions is where the Zacks Rank comes in. The Zacks Rank is a unique, proprietary stock-rating model that utilizes changes to a company's quarterly earnings expectations to help investors build a winning portfolio.

Four primary factors make up the Zacks Rank: Agreement, Magnitude, Upside, and Surprise. Each is given a raw score that's recalculated every night and compiled into the Rank, and with this data, stocks are then classified into five groups, ranging from "Strong Buy" to "Strong Sell."

The Focus List is comprised of stocks hand-picked from a long list of #1 (Strong Buy) or #2 (Buy) ranked companies, meaning that each new addition boasts a bullish earnings consensus among analysts.

Since stock prices respond to revisions, it can be very profitable to buy stocks with rising earnings estimates. By buying Focus List stocks, then, you're likely getting into companies whose future earnings estimates will be raised, potentially leading to price momentum.

Focus List Spotlight: Microsoft (MSFT - Free Report) Redmond, WA-based Microsoft Corporation is one of the largest broad-based technology providers in the world. The company holds the leading position in the PC software market with its Windows operating system. 

Since being added to the Focus List on February 1, 2016 at $55.09 per share, shares of MSFT have increased 871.27% to $535.07. The stock is currently a #3 (Hold) on the Zacks Rank.

Three analysts revised their earnings estimate higher in the last 60 days for fiscal 2027, while the Zacks Consensus Estimate has increased $0.02 to $19.65. MSFT also boasts an average earnings surprise of 9.3%.

Earnings for MSFT are forecasted to see growth of 9.5% for the current fiscal year as well.

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Microsoft President Brad Smith is calling for urgent regulation of AI, and his argument is that consumer products like milk and washing machines have more oversight than the companies building artificial intelligence.

On a recent BBC podcast, Smith called AI both a “weapon and a tool” that is putting the world’s cybersecurity at risk, and said the “moment has arrived” to institute global safety rules.

Smith also said the U.K., and not the U.S. or European Union, is best placed to lead on global safety rules. Britain’s AI Security Institute, launched in 2023, receives access to major models from U.S. frontier labs before they are deployed and has quickly become a leader in AI safety testing. 

That role has been under threat in recent weeks, with U.S. President Donald Trump warning against “globalist” organizations, which he claims are interfering with American companies. Last month, he reportedly asked Anthropic and OpenAI to withhold new models from British testers, but AISI confirmed on Monday that it is able to access and test the latest models. 

Despite the president’s pushback, however, Smith argued the U.K. can regulate AI in ways that the U.S. cannot. 

“In Washington, D.C., people don’t look at the U.K. and they don’t look at London the way they look at Brussels,” he told the BBC. “That’s a strength.”

His comments come amid rallying cries from tech leaders, including Anthropic’s Dario Amodei and OpenAI’s Sam Altman, to slow the pace of AI development in the wake of several incidents where AI agents went rogue.

Last month, Trump hosted tech leaders of companies including OpenAI, Anthropic, Nvidia, AMD, SpaceX, Meta and Google at the White House to discuss AI safety. They signed a “morally binding” document in which they agreed to work with “independent auditors” to assess the safety and capabilities of their AI models. 

Smith says the document is a “good step,” but it stops short of the type of regulation that is necessary. The problem with voluntary self-regulation, he said, is that the “good companies” will comply. 

“It’s the companies that are not as responsible that you need to worry about,” he said.

Smith outlined several AI safety rules he’d like to see put into place, like a legal obligation to alert an organization if its system was breached by rogue AI agents. He also appears to be in favor of AI labs getting the approval of outside evaluators before an AI product is released, and spoke positively about kill-switches to pause or slow down AI if humans lose control of it. 

“Let’s speak calmly, maybe even softly, but firmly, and start to bring people together,” Smith said. “I hope that’s the role we can play as a company. I hope that’s the role the U.K. can play as a country.”

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

Rebecca Bellan is a senior reporter at TechCrunch where she covers the business, policy, and emerging trends shaping artificial intelligence. Her work has also appeared in Forbes, Bloomberg, The Atlantic, The Daily Beast, and other publications.

You can contact or verify outreach from Rebecca by emailing [email protected] or via encrypted message at rebeccabellan.491 on Signal.

OV Management LLC bought a new position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 1,157 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $432,000. Microsoft makes up approximately 0.8% of OV Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Planning Directions Inc. bought a new stake in Microsoft during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,205,000. AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth $16,637,000. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth $14,840,000. Myecfo LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at $485,000. Finally, Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at $36,046,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

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

Positive Sentiment: Microsoft introduced Microsoft-Decision-1, an AI model it says makes decisions substantially faster than GPT-6 Sol. The launch reinforces Microsoft’s competitive position in enterprise AI and could support demand for Azure and Copilot services. Microsoft launches Microsoft-Decision-1 Positive Sentiment: Analyst and investor commentary remains bullish on Microsoft’s AI stack, Azure acceleration, Copilot adoption and a large reported backlog. Wells Fargo reportedly raised its price target to $725, while Morgan Stanley reaffirmed a Buy rating with a $600 target. Morgan Stanley rating Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is attempting to revive Windows and expand on-device AI with new Nvidia-powered Surface hardware, including the premium Surface Laptop Ultra. Local AI processing could strengthen the Windows ecosystem and stimulate higher-value PC sales. Surface Laptop Ultra Positive Sentiment: The company is nearing a $4 trillion market capitalization after a strong earnings beat, with revenue and earnings growth continuing to support the recent rally. The next major test is Microsoft’s expected October 28 earnings report. Microsoft approaches $4 trillion valuation Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft’s new Xbox division, focused on film, television, events and theme parks, could expand the reach of its gaming franchises, although the strategy is unlikely to materially affect near-term financial results. Microsoft forms new Xbox unit Negative Sentiment: The U.S. suspension of Microsoft’s PERM green-card sponsorship program creates hiring and retention uncertainty, particularly for specialized AI and engineering workers. Investors are weighing potential compliance costs and the risk of an “AI brain drain.” U.S. suspends Microsoft green-card program Negative Sentiment: Italy launched an EU-backed antitrust investigation into Microsoft-owned game companies over virtual currencies, adding regulatory risk to the gaming business. Italy gaming investigation Insider Buying and Selling In other news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Amy Hood sold 41,674 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $498.27, for a total transaction of $20,764,903.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 533,624 shares in the company, valued at $265,888,830.48. This represents a 7.24% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 143,009 shares of company stock valued at $71,420,699 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock. Microsoft Price Performance MSFT opened at $535.07 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $3.97 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.10. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $501.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $435.10. 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 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. The company had revenue of $90.01 billion during 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%. Microsoft’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 posted $3.65 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.65 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 19th will be paid a $0.98 dividend. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 19th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 20.27%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group downgraded shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, October 5th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $575.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on Microsoft in a research note on Monday, October 5th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, September 28th. Finally, Citizens Jmp reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, September 15th. Forty-two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $578.73.

Get Our Latest Analysis on MSFT

About Microsoft (Free Report)

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company that develops software, cloud services, devices, gaming products and business solutions. Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, the company is best known for the Windows operating system and Microsoft Office productivity software. Microsoft is headquartered in Redmond, Washington, and serves consumers, businesses, governments and educational institutions worldwide.

Microsoft’s productivity and business offerings include Microsoft 365 applications such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook, along with collaboration tools including Teams.

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