2,371 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Purchased by Hyperion Capital Advisors LP

Key Points

• Hyperion Capital Advisors LP initiated a Microsoft position by purchasing 2,371 shares valued at approximately $884,000; institutional investors collectively own 71.13% of the stock.
• Analyst sentiment remains strongly positive, with 42 Buy ratings, four Holds and two Sells, producing a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $589.71.
• Microsoft reported quarterly earnings and revenue above expectations, while revenue rose 17.7% year over year and the company increased its quarterly dividend to $0.98 per share. Investors are nevertheless monitoring heavy AI infrastructure spending, cloud margins and regulatory scrutiny.

Hyperion Capital Advisors LP purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 2,371 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $884,000. Microsoft accounts for approximately 0.4% of Hyperion Capital Advisors LP's holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest position.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Auto Owners Insurance Co raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 56,160.8% during the 4th 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 lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 30.8% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 41,675,076 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $15,426,862,000 after purchasing an additional 9,814,598 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 2,784,809 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 9,493,778 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 1,599,412 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on MSFT shares. William Blair began coverage on Microsoft in a research note on Monday, October 5th. They set an "outperform" rating for the company. KeyCorp restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, September 3rd. Needham & Company LLC assumed coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, September 23rd. They issued a "buy" rating on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a "buy" rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, October 12th. Finally, DA Davidson reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Forty-two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $589.71.

Key Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts expect Microsoft to remain the only major hyperscaler with positive free cash flow over the next year despite heavy AI investment. This reinforces confidence that the company can fund data-center expansion without substantial external financing. Microsoft Free Cash Flow Expected to Remain Positive
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft signed a 20-year agreement with NiSource for approximately 1,100 megawatts of power for an Indiana data-center campus beginning in 2028. Securing electricity supports future Azure capacity as grid constraints become a bottleneck for AI expansion. Microsoft Signs Power Deal With NiSource
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s custom Maia AI chips and reports that a new model achieved comparable or better performance than OpenAI’s system using a fraction of the computing power could eventually reduce reliance on expensive third-party GPUs and improve AI economics. Microsoft Wants to Make AI Cheaper
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors are focused on Azure growth, Copilot adoption, AI monetization and capital expenditures ahead of earnings. Strong demand could support the shares, but the market wants evidence that revenue growth is translating into sustainable margins.
• Negative Sentiment: The U.K. Competition and Markets Authority is investigating Microsoft’s grip on business software and says Microsoft and Amazon Web Services may need to do more to address cloud-service barriers. Potential remedies could increase compliance costs or weaken customer-lock-in advantages. UK Regulator Targets Microsoft’s Business Software Grip
• Negative Sentiment: Questions remain over whether custom chips will deliver meaningful savings: AI infrastructure, power and data-center commitments are rising rapidly, while Microsoft is reportedly seeking substantial cost reductions in Azure. That creates concern about near-term free-cash-flow and margin pressure.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares of the firm'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 trade represents a 9.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Amy Hood sold 7,305 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $545.42, for a total transaction of $3,984,293.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 555,396 shares of the company's stock, valued at $302,924,086.32. This represents a 1.30% 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 150,314 shares of company stock valued at $75,404,992 in the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $529.05 on Monday. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $349.20 and a 1 year high of $553.72. The business has a 50-day moving average of $505.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $441.16. The company has a market capitalization of $3.93 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.10. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $90.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $87.62 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.65 earnings per share. Microsoft's revenue 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 firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.27%.

Microsoft Company Profile

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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