13,011 Shares in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Bought by Patron Partners LLC

Key Points

• Patron Partners LLC purchased 13,011 Microsoft shares worth approximately $4.85 million, making MSFT its ninth-largest holding and representing about 1.9% of its portfolio. Institutional investors collectively own 71.13% of Microsoft.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive, with 42 Buy ratings, four Holds and two Sells; Microsoft has a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $581.80. However, Morgan Stanley recently downgraded the stock to “negative.”
• Microsoft reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, including $4.74 in EPS and $90.01 billion in revenue, while revenue rose 17.7% year over year. The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.98 per share, although insiders sold 143,009 shares worth roughly $71.4 million during the quarter.

Patron Partners LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 13,011 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $4,853,000. Microsoft makes up about 1.9% of Patron Partners LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,270,000. OneAscent Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at $3,622,000. Presper Financial Architects LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft during the second quarter worth approximately $635,000. OneAscent Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth about $12,372,000. Finally, Paralel Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the second quarter worth about $41,032,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on MSFT. CLSA reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, October 5th. They set an "outperform" rating for the company. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $586.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Microsoft from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut shares of Microsoft from an "overweight" rating to a "negative" 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 issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $581.80.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares of the company's 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 of the company's stock, valued at $49,007,086.83. This represents a 9.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Amy Hood sold 41,674 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 533,624 shares of the company's stock, valued at $265,888,830.48. This represents a 7.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 143,009 shares of company stock valued at $71,420,699. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Key Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Maia 300 strengthens Microsoft’s AI strategy. Microsoft unveiled its third-generation Maia 300 custom AI processor, which it says can deliver approximately 40% more AI-generated tokens per megawatt or dollar than leading GPU-based systems. The company plans multi-gigawatt deployments beginning in 2027, potentially lowering inference costs, improving Azure margins and reducing reliance on Nvidia and AMD. Microsoft Reveals Next-Gen Maia 300 Custom AI Chip For Widespread Deployment
• Positive Sentiment: AI infrastructure demand remains exceptionally strong. Microsoft reportedly signed more than $130 billion in data-center leases during the quarter, signaling aggressive capacity expansion to meet demand for Azure and AI services. Management has also indicated that demand continues to exceed available capacity, while its commercial backlog has reached a record level. Microsoft Reports $130 Billion in Data Center Leases
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst sentiment is supportive ahead of earnings. Barclays raised its Microsoft price target to $600 from $512 and expects greater differentiation in software results. Microsoft is scheduled to report fiscal first-quarter 2027 results on October 28, with consensus estimates of approximately $4.72 in earnings per share and $90.4 billion in revenue. Microsoft price target raised to $600 from $512 at Barclays
• Positive Sentiment: New AI products broaden Microsoft’s growth opportunities. The Decision-1 model is described as faster and cheaper to operate than competing systems, while new Surface Pro and Surface Laptop devices add AI features, 5G connectivity and improved battery efficiency.
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors are weighing AI growth against spending. The Maia rollout could improve long-term economics, but Microsoft is committing substantial capital to data centers and chips. Analysts are monitoring whether shrinking free cash flow and high infrastructure costs offset Azure and Copilot growth.
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory and execution risks remain. Microsoft is conducting another round of layoffs in Israel, its research chief Peter Lee is leaving for Mercedes’ Formula 1 team, and Norway fined subsidiary Xandr €8.6 million over Grindr data sharing. Nadella and President Brad Smith are also calling for stronger AI safeguards, highlighting potential compliance costs and liability risks.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $543.45 on Wednesday. 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 company has a fifty day moving average price of $503.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $437.50. The stock has a market cap of $4.04 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.10. 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 issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $90.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $87.62 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.65 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.65 EPS for the current 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 issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 19th. This is an increase from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. Microsoft's payout ratio is 20.27%.

Microsoft Company Profile

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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