3,060 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Acquired by Heartland Advisors Inc.

Key Points

• Heartland Advisors acquired 3,060 Microsoft shares in the second quarter, valued at approximately $1.14 million. Institutional investors collectively own 71.13% of Microsoft’s outstanding stock.
• Microsoft reported quarterly EPS of $4.74 and revenue of $90.01 billion, surpassing analyst estimates, while revenue increased 17.7% year over year. The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.98 per share, representing a 0.7% annual yield.
• Investor focus remains on Microsoft’s AI and Azure expansion, including its Maia 300 accelerator and substantial data-center commitments, though rising infrastructure costs, valuation concerns and mixed analyst actions present near-term risks.

Heartland Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 3,060 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $1,141,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Auto Owners Insurance Co boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 56,160.8% in the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 60,116,384 shares of the software giant's stock worth $29,073,486,000 after buying an additional 60,009,531 shares during the last quarter. Amundi increased its holdings in Microsoft by 30.8% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 41,675,076 shares of the software giant's stock worth $15,426,862,000 after acquiring an additional 9,814,598 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 10.5% in the first 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 in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 22,138,798 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $10,715,379,000 after acquiring an additional 1,599,412 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $533.69 on Thursday. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $504.15 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $438.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.96 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $349.20 and a 12-month high of $553.72.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.50. Microsoft had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 31.98%. The firm had revenue of $90.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $87.62 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.65 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 19th will be given a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 19th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. This is an increase from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. Microsoft's payout ratio is 20.27%.

Microsoft News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft unveiled its Maia 300 custom AI accelerator, designed for multi-gigawatt deployment across Azure data centers. Management says it can deliver 40% more tokens per megawatt than a GPU-based system, potentially lowering inference costs and reducing reliance on Nvidia and AMD hardware. What Could Microsoft Gain From Its Maia 300 AI Chip Rollout?
• Positive Sentiment: Investor optimism remains focused on Azure growth, Microsoft’s AI backlog, and more than $130 billion in reported data-center leases. The scale of commitments supports long-term demand for Azure and Copilot, although it also raises capital-spending risks. Microsoft Reports $130 Billion in Data Center Leases
• Positive Sentiment: Barclays raised its Microsoft price target to $600 from $512 and expects the upcoming fiscal first-quarter report to show improving differentiation in software. Earnings are scheduled for October 28. Microsoft Price Target Raised by Barclays
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft’s Azure chief reportedly seeks at least 20% cost cuts in an effort to offset soaring AI data-center expenses. The move could improve efficiency and margins, but it also highlights pressure from the company’s aggressive investment cycle. Microsoft Weighs 20% Cost Cuts in Azure
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft is introducing new AI-enabled Surface devices and an Xbox Nano Controller, supporting its broader push to put generative AI into consumer hardware. These products are strategically relevant but are unlikely to materially affect near-term results.
• Negative Sentiment: Hot inflation data pushed bond yields higher and triggered a broad selloff in AI-related shares, increasing concern that expensive AI infrastructure projects may face higher financing costs and tougher valuation scrutiny.
• Negative Sentiment: Phillip Securities downgraded Microsoft to “hold,” while Erste Group made a minor reduction to its FY2028 earnings forecast. These actions add to near-term caution following the stock’s strong run.
• Negative Sentiment: EVP Amy Hood sold 7,305 shares worth approximately $4.0 million under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. Because the sale was scheduled in advance and represents only 1.3% of her holdings, it is a limited bearish signal.
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Microsoft issued security updates addressing more than 1,400 vulnerabilities could renew concerns about cybersecurity exposure, though patching the flaws is ultimately protective.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on MSFT. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Microsoft in a research note on Monday, October 5th. They set an "outperform" rating for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $660.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, August 10th. BNP Paribas Exane lowered shares of Microsoft from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Argus cut their price target on shares of Microsoft from $620.00 to $510.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Melius Research set a $665.00 price target on shares of Microsoft and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Forty-one investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $581.24.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 86,525 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $501.46, for a total value of $43,388,826.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 100,447 shares in the company, valued at approximately $49,007,086.83. The trade was a 9.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 150,314 shares of company stock worth $75,404,992. Corporate 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, 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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