39,000 Shares in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Bought by Winmill & CO. Inc.

Key Points

• Winmill & CO. Inc. bought 39,000 Microsoft shares worth approximately $14.5 million, making Microsoft 3.2% of the fund’s portfolio and its 12th-largest holding. Institutional investors collectively own 71.13% of Microsoft.
• Microsoft reported quarterly EPS of $4.74 and revenue of $90.01 billion, exceeding analyst estimates, while revenue increased 17.7% year over year. The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.98 per share, or $3.92 annually.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive, with 42 Buy ratings and a consensus price target of $589.71, although regulatory scrutiny, rising AI infrastructure costs and insider stock sales remain potential risks.

Winmill & CO. Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 39,000 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $14,548,000. Microsoft comprises 3.2% of Winmill & CO. Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest holding.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Auto Owners Insurance Co lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 56,160.8% in the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 60,116,384 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $29,073,486,000 after buying an additional 60,009,531 shares during the last quarter. Amundi boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 30.8% during 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 during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 64.3% during 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 acquiring an additional 9,493,778 shares during the last quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 38,442.1% during the 1st quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,810,388 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,521,001,000 after acquiring an additional 6,792,718 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Danske Bank A S acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,111,268,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $529.05 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $349.20 and a 12-month high of $553.72. The stock has a market cap of $3.93 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.10. The business has a 50 day moving average of $505.53 and a 200-day moving average of $440.59. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

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

Microsoft Increases Dividend

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

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.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $487.89, for a total value of $4,878,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 100,447 shares of the company's stock, valued at $49,007,086.83. This represents a 9.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Amy Hood sold 7,305 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $545.42, for a total value of $3,984,293.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 555,396 shares in the company, valued at approximately $302,924,086.32. This represents a 1.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 150,314 shares of company stock valued at $75,404,992. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MSFT. Weiss Ratings upgraded Microsoft from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Wolfe Research cut shares of Microsoft from an "outperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Microsoft from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $530.00 to $575.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 22nd. DA Davidson reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $512.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Forty-two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.