40,103 Shares in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Purchased by Kranot Hishtalmut Le Morim Tichoniim Havera Menahelet LTD

Key Points

• Kranot Hishtalmut Le Morim Tichoniim purchased 40,103 Microsoft shares worth approximately $14.96 million, making Microsoft 1.9% of its portfolio. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 71.13% of the stock.
• Microsoft insiders sold 150,314 shares valued at about $75.4 million over the past 90 days, including sales by CEO Judson Althoff and EVP Takeshi Numoto.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive, with 43 Buy ratings and a consensus price target of $590.30. Microsoft also reported quarterly revenue growth of 17.7%, raised its quarterly dividend to $0.98, and continues investing heavily in AI infrastructure despite concerns about capital spending and capacity constraints.

Kranot Hishtalmut Le Morim Tichoniim Havera Menahelet LTD purchased a new stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 40,103 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $14,959,000. Microsoft accounts for approximately 1.9% of Kranot Hishtalmut Le Morim Tichoniim Havera Menahelet LTD's holdings, making the stock its 16th largest holding.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. IFP Advisors Inc increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 3.2% during the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 180,462 shares of the software giant's stock worth $67,316,000 after acquiring an additional 5,662 shares during the period. Roble Belko & Company Inc raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 17.8% in the second quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc now owns 5,826 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,173,000 after acquiring an additional 880 shares in the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.9% in the second quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,836,049 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,176,963,000 after acquiring an additional 53,331 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 1.8% in the second quarter. Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. now owns 29,406 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $10,969,000 after purchasing an additional 515 shares during the period. Finally, One Charles Private Wealth Services LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 4.8% in the second quarter. One Charles Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 6,699 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,499,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 $49,007,086.83. The trade was a 9.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 42,677 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,188,276.96. This trade represents a 10.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 150,314 shares of company stock worth $75,404,992 in the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Microsoft News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft received a bullish signal ahead of its Oct. 28 earnings report after Bernstein raised its price target to $662 and maintained an “Outperform” rating. Investors are watching Azure growth, commercial remaining performance obligations, and whether Microsoft’s more than $115 billion in recent capital spending is translating into AI revenue. Microsoft Given New Price Target at Sanford C. Bernstein
• Positive Sentiment: The company unveiled its Maia 300 AI accelerator and plans multi-gigawatt deployments beginning next year. The chip could reduce Microsoft’s reliance on Nvidia and lower inference costs, supporting the long-term economics of its AI infrastructure strategy. Microsoft's New AI Chip Could Change the Economics of AI
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft introduced security controls for enterprise AI agents and emphasized that frontier models can pose insider-threat-like risks. The initiative could strengthen demand for Microsoft’s security products as businesses adopt agentic AI. Microsoft Introduces Security Features for AI Agents
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts continue to view Microsoft as a broad way to monetize AI through Azure, Copilot, software subscriptions, and security. Expectations call for Azure growth of roughly 45%, though capacity constraints could limit near-term upside. Microsoft Earnings Preview
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft withdrew as anchor customer from Nscale’s planned U.K. AI data center, reportedly because of electricity-grid and power-supply delays. The decision highlights infrastructure constraints but may also reflect disciplined capital allocation; third-party operators could benefit if hyperscalers build less capacity themselves. Microsoft Pulls Out of U.K. Data Center Deal
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned that Microsoft’s aggressive AI capital expenditures could pressure free cash flow and margins if Azure monetization does not accelerate. One analyst also said Maia remains well behind Nvidia and Google’s custom chips, limiting its near-term competitive impact. Microsoft AI Bull Case and Valuation Risks

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Microsoft from $550.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $640.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. CLSA reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $440.00 price objective on Microsoft in a research report on Monday, September 21st. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane downgraded Microsoft from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Forty-three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four 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 $590.30.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $533.52 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The business's 50 day moving average is $506.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $442.31. Microsoft Corporation has a twelve month low of $349.20 and a twelve month high of $553.72. The company has a market capitalization of $3.96 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.10.

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 (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 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.65 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.65 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 19th will be issued a $0.98 dividend. 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. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Microsoft's payout ratio is presently 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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