1,600 Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Acquired by Nilsine Partners LLC

Key Points

• Nilsine Partners increased its Microsoft position by 3.8%, acquiring 1,600 shares for a total holding of 43,818 shares valued at approximately $16.35 million. Institutional investors own about 71.13% of Microsoft’s stock.
• Microsoft reported quarterly EPS of $4.89 and revenue of $92.28 billion, exceeding analyst expectations, while revenue grew 18.8% year over year. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating with an average price target of $609.54.
• Microsoft raised its quarterly dividend to $0.98 per share, equivalent to an annualized dividend of $3.92 and a 0.8% yield. Investors remain focused on the company’s heavy AI spending, rising infrastructure costs and plans to raise $25 billion in debt.

Nilsine Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 43,818 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 1,600 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 1.1% of Nilsine Partners LLC's holdings, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Nilsine Partners LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $16,345,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Frankly Finances LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at about $35,000. Ramsey Quantitative Systems purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $112,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 16.6% during the first quarter. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC now owns 422 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $156,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Kings Path Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 26.8% during the second quarter. Kings Path Partners LLC now owns 530 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $198,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Patton Fund Management Inc. increased its holdings in Microsoft by 11.8% during the first quarter. Patton Fund Management Inc. now owns 549 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $203,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on MSFT. Citigroup reissued a "market outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Microsoft from $725.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Benchmark reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Guggenheim boosted their price target on Microsoft from $586.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Griffin Securities cut Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-five have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $609.54.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.6%

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $521.91 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.88 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.24, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.10. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $349.20 and a 52 week high of $551.15. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $512.91 and a 200 day moving average of $438.43.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The software giant reported $4.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.72 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $92.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.62 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 41.17% and a return on equity of 31.28%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 18.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $4.13 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.79 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 represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. 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. Microsoft's payout ratio is 19.00%.

Microsoft News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft delivered a strong fiscal first quarter, with revenue of $92.28 billion and EPS of $4.89, both above expectations. Azure revenue surged 48%, while Microsoft Cloud revenue rose 30%, reinforcing the view that AI demand is translating into meaningful cloud growth. Microsoft Earnings Expose a Growing Divide in the Magnificent 7 AI Trade
• Positive Sentiment: Management issued second-quarter revenue guidance of $96.0 billion to $97.1 billion, above the $95.7 billion consensus estimate. Analysts responded with multiple price-target increases, including targets of $630 to $680, and Wolfe Research upgraded the stock to “strong buy.”
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s strong cash generation and diversified enterprise business continue to distinguish it from rivals facing sharper cash-flow concerns. Analysts argue that Azure, Copilot, AI agents and Microsoft’s security products provide several ways to monetize AI. The expanded Estée Lauder partnership, which will extend Copilot to more than 14,000 employees, offers another example of enterprise adoption. Estée Lauder and Microsoft Strategic Partnership
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft’s voluntary exit offer for approximately 60,000 employees may improve productivity and redirect resources toward AI, but it also highlights a significant restructuring as the company shifts toward more automated, equipment-intensive operations. Microsoft’s 60,000-Person Buyout Offer
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned about Microsoft’s capital intensity. The company plans roughly $170 billion of AI-related capital spending, while also arranging a $25 billion bond sale—the first major U.S. debt offering since 2017—to fund its buildout. Rising borrowing costs increase scrutiny of future AI returns. Microsoft Plans to Raise $25 Billion in Debt
• Negative Sentiment: Quarterly capital spending was below analyst expectations because third-party AI-chip and data-center capacity was delayed, pushing some capacity into the first half of 2027. While management described this as a supply issue rather than weaker demand, the miss hurt AI infrastructure suppliers and revived concerns about the pace of expansion.
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft’s cloud gross margin is reportedly narrowing as chip, power, data-center and labor costs rise. With the Nasdaq 100 down sharply during October amid fears of an AI spending bubble, investors are demanding proof that Microsoft’s large backlog will convert into profitable cash flow—not merely future revenue.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $496.48, for a total transaction of $2,388,068.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 42,677 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,188,276.96. This represents a 10.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 86,525 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 486,763 shares of the company's stock, 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 150,314 shares of company stock valued at $75,404,992 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

About Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation NASDAQ: MSFT is a global technology company that develops software, cloud services, devices and digital platforms. Its products and services are used by consumers, businesses, governments and educational institutions worldwide.

The company's principal offerings include the Windows operating system; Microsoft 365 productivity applications such as Word, Excel, Teams and Outlook; Azure cloud computing and infrastructure services; Dynamics business applications; and enterprise security solutions.

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