22,936 Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Purchased by AMS Capital Ltda

Key Points

• AMS Capital increased its Microsoft stake by 83% in the second quarter, purchasing 22,936 additional shares and bringing its holdings to 50,569 shares valued at approximately $18.9 million. Institutional investors collectively own 71.13% of Microsoft.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with 41 Buy, five Hold and two Sell ratings; the stock carries a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and a $578.73 target price.
• Microsoft reported quarterly EPS of $4.74 and revenue of $90.01 billion, exceeding estimates, while raising its quarterly dividend to $0.98 per share. Insiders have continued selling shares, including executive sales totaling 143,009 shares worth about $71.4 million over the past 90 days.

AMS Capital Ltda boosted its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 83.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 50,569 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 22,936 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 6.5% of AMS Capital Ltda's holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest position. AMS Capital Ltda's holdings in Microsoft were worth $18,863,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management raised its stake in Microsoft by 4.0% in the second quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 229,490 shares of the software giant's stock worth $85,604,000 after buying an additional 8,773 shares in the last quarter. Markel Group Inc. boosted its position in Microsoft by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 537,630 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $199,014,000 after acquiring an additional 1,950 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 8.4% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 6,921,677 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,562,197,000 after acquiring an additional 537,634 shares during the period. Taylor Securities Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,616,000. Finally, Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 138.8% in the 1st quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 1,356,359 shares of the software giant's stock worth $502,077,000 after acquiring an additional 788,297 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. BNP Paribas Exane lowered Microsoft from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $640.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Microsoft from $515.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Truist Financial restated a "buy" rating and set a $575.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Microsoft from an "outperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 23rd. Forty-one equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $578.73.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Amy Hood sold 41,674 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 533,624 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $265,888,830.48. This represents a 7.24% decrease in their position. 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, CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares of the firm's 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 100,447 shares in the company, valued at approximately $49,007,086.83. The trade was a 9.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 143,009 shares of company stock worth $71,420,699. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

More Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrade and higher price target: Melius Research upgraded Microsoft from “Hold” to “Buy” and set a $665 target, arguing that corporate concerns about AI safety, governance and security could increase demand for Microsoft’s enterprise tools. BNP Paribas also reportedly raised its forecast to $604, citing Azure growth, Copilot consumption-based pricing and the integration of OpenAI-related revenue. Melius Research upgrades Microsoft
• Positive Sentiment: AI and cloud momentum remain the core catalyst: Investors continue to focus on strong Azure demand, expanding AI infrastructure requirements and Copilot adoption. Microsoft is increasingly viewed as a relatively dependable enterprise AI leader, with its installed base, cloud platform and security products potentially giving it an advantage as businesses seek trusted AI solutions. Microsoft viewed as an AI leader
• Positive Sentiment: Upcoming Windows and Surface event: Microsoft’s October 7 event will highlight on-device AI and could provide updates on Windows, Surface and Copilot monetization. The event is being watched for evidence that AI can reinvigorate the devices business while complementing faster-growing cloud operations. Microsoft Windows and Surface event
• Neutral Sentiment: Internal AI model shift: Microsoft is reportedly steering employees away from Anthropic’s Claude toward internally developed AI models. This could reduce costs and dependence on outside providers, but investors will watch whether Microsoft maintains performance and enterprise customer confidence.
• Negative Sentiment: Risks include valuation, spending and rates: Microsoft’s strong recent rally has increased valuation concerns, while substantial capital expenditures needed for data centers could pressure free cash flow. Rising Treasury yields may also weigh on richly valued AI stocks. Rising Treasury yields and AI stocks
• Negative Sentiment: Isolated selling signals: A member of Congress disclosed a sale of Microsoft shares ahead of earnings season. The trade is a limited sentiment indicator rather than a fundamental development, but it may attract attention after reports that Microsoft insiders have sold shares without reported purchases in recent months. Congressman sells Microsoft stock

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $529.30 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $495.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $432.04. 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 market capitalization of $3.93 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.47, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.10. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $349.20 and a 1-year high of $553.72.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $90.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $87.62 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 31.98%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.65 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 yield of 0.7%. This is a boost from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 19th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.27%.

About Microsoft

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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