1,043 Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Acquired by Hodges Capital Management Inc.

Key Points

• Hodges Capital Management increased its Microsoft stake by 3.7% in the second quarter, acquiring 1,043 shares and bringing its total holdings to 29,435 shares valued at approximately $10.98 million.
• Microsoft’s AI strategy remains a major growth driver, with its redesigned Copilot “super app” targeting enterprise users and analysts raising price targets; the stock carries a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating with an average target of $569.29.
• Microsoft reported strong quarterly results, including revenue growth of 17.7% year over year and earnings that exceeded estimates, while also raising its quarterly dividend to $0.98 per share. Investors continue to monitor heavy AI infrastructure spending and insider stock sales as potential risks.

Hodges Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 3.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 29,435 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 1,043 shares during the period. Hodges Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $10,980,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Frankly Finances LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Microsoft by 37.4% in the second quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. now owns 125 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $59,000. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at $101,000. Finally, Ramsey Quantitative Systems acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter valued at $112,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Stories Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft unveiled a redesigned Copilot “super app” that combines access to Office applications with coding tools, autonomous AI agents and an Autopilot feature. The initiative is aimed primarily at business users and could improve enterprise adoption, usage and monetization of Microsoft’s AI offerings. Reuters article
• Positive Sentiment: Oppenheimer raised its Microsoft price target to $570, citing the company’s shift toward enterprise AI agents and a billing model tied more closely to customer usage. Other recent analyst targets have also moved higher, reinforcing expectations for sustained Azure and AI growth. Oppenheimer target article
• Positive Sentiment: Investors appear more confident that Microsoft can benefit from AI without depending on a single large-model provider. Its Azure cloud platform, Microsoft 365 ecosystem and enterprise distribution provide multiple avenues for converting AI investment into recurring revenue. MarketWatch article
• Positive Sentiment: Unusually heavy bullish options activity, including a large call spread, suggests traders are positioning for additional upside. Technical analysts identified a potential move toward approximately $555, although this is market positioning rather than a fundamental forecast. Barchart options article
• Neutral Sentiment: Broader market gains, led by AI stocks, provided an additional tailwind. However, elevated oil prices, Treasury yields and uncertainty over potential Federal Reserve policy changes remain important macroeconomic risks.
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft is moving away from a consumer-focused personal-assistant strategy and concentrating Copilot on workplace use. The usage-based approach could unlock greater revenue, but it may also make sales less predictable than traditional subscriptions if customer adoption is slower than expected. Financial Post article
• Negative Sentiment: Investors continue to monitor Microsoft’s substantial AI infrastructure spending, data-center capacity constraints and a reported 277-job reduction in Washington. These factors could pressure near-term margins even as Azure demand remains strong.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on MSFT. Citigroup restated a "market outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, September 21st. Phillip Securities cut Microsoft from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Raymond James Financial cut shares of Microsoft from a "moderate buy" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Forty-three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $569.29.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $516.17 on Monday. 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 firm has a market cap of $3.83 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.11. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $477.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $426.29. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $349.20 and a fifty-two week high of $553.72.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.50. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.98% and a net margin of 40.31%.The business had revenue of $90.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $87.62 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.65 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.62 EPS 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 paid a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 19th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. This is an increase from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is presently 20.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, 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 value of $43,388,826.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 486,763 shares in the company, valued at approximately $244,092,173.98. The trade was a 15.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the company's 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 42,677 shares in the company, valued at $21,188,276.96. This represents a 10.13% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have 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 Company Profile

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company that develops software, cloud services, devices and digital solutions for consumers, businesses and public-sector organizations. Its products and services include the Windows operating system, Microsoft 365 productivity applications, Teams collaboration software, Dynamics business applications and Azure cloud computing services.

The company also operates LinkedIn, GitHub and Xbox, which includes gaming consoles, video games and related online services.

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