3,279 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Purchased by Portland Investment Counsel Inc.

Key Points

• Portland Investment Counsel purchased 3,279 Microsoft shares worth approximately $1.22 million in the second quarter, while institutional investors collectively own 71.13% of the company.
• Microsoft exceeded quarterly expectations with $4.74 in EPS and $90.01 billion in revenue, up 17.7% year over year. The company also increased its quarterly dividend to $0.98 per share, producing an annualized yield of 0.7%.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $589.71, though investors continue to monitor AI spending, margin pressure and potential regulatory action against Microsoft’s cloud and software businesses.

Portland Investment Counsel Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 3,279 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $1,223,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.7% during the second quarter. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,473 shares of the software giant's stock worth $549,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Friedenthal Financial grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 6.2% during the first quarter. Friedenthal Financial now owns 431 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $160,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Sequent Planning LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% in the first quarter. Sequent Planning LLC now owns 3,733 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,382,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Lee Johnson Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 3.8% in the second quarter. Lee Johnson Capital Management LLC now owns 687 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $256,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Riverpoint Wealth Management Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% in the first quarter. Riverpoint Wealth Management Holdings LLC now owns 5,543 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,052,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Down 1.9%

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $529.05 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.93 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 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 1 year low of $349.20 and a 1 year high of $553.72. The firm's 50-day moving average is $505.53 and its 200-day moving average is $440.59.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $90.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $87.62 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 31.98%. Microsoft's revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.65 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.65 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 86,525 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $501.46, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 15.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on 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 sale, 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 150,314 shares of company stock valued at $75,404,992 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Microsoft

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.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on MSFT. Needham & Company LLC began coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, September 23rd. They issued a "buy" rating for the company. Oppenheimer increased 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. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Microsoft from $540.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. KeyCorp reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, September 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Microsoft from $700.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 1st. Forty-two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $589.71.

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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