47,839 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Purchased by Fairtree Asset Management Pty Ltd

Key Points

• Fairtree Asset Management purchased 47,839 Microsoft shares worth approximately $17.8 million in the second quarter, making Microsoft its largest holding at 6.8% of the portfolio. Institutional investors collectively own 71.13% of Microsoft.
• Microsoft reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $4.74 and revenue of $90.01 billion, exceeding estimates; revenue increased 17.7% year over year. The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.98 per share.
• Microsoft’s AI and cloud expansion remains a key growth driver, but investors are monitoring heavy infrastructure spending, regulatory risks and insider selling. Analysts maintain a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating with an average price target of $581.80.

Fairtree Asset Management Pty Ltd 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 disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 47,839 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $17,845,000. Microsoft comprises about 6.8% of Fairtree Asset Management Pty Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest position.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Oxford Financial Group LTD. LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter worth $13,966,000. Kilter Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter valued at about $881,000. Sycale Advisors NY LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter valued at about $15,737,000. D L Carlson Investment Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter valued at about $15,643,000. Finally, Portfolio Design Labs LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter valued at about $18,623,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Key Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Maia 300 strengthens Microsoft’s AI strategy. Microsoft unveiled its third-generation Maia 300 custom AI processor, which it says can deliver approximately 40% more AI-generated tokens per megawatt or dollar than leading GPU-based systems. The company plans multi-gigawatt deployments beginning in 2027, potentially lowering inference costs, improving Azure margins and reducing reliance on Nvidia and AMD. Microsoft Reveals Next-Gen Maia 300 Custom AI Chip For Widespread Deployment
• Positive Sentiment: AI infrastructure demand remains exceptionally strong. Microsoft reportedly signed more than $130 billion in data-center leases during the quarter, signaling aggressive capacity expansion to meet demand for Azure and AI services. Management has also indicated that demand continues to exceed available capacity, while its commercial backlog has reached a record level. Microsoft Reports $130 Billion in Data Center Leases
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst sentiment is supportive ahead of earnings. Barclays raised its Microsoft price target to $600 from $512 and expects greater differentiation in software results. Microsoft is scheduled to report fiscal first-quarter 2027 results on October 28, with consensus estimates of approximately $4.72 in earnings per share and $90.4 billion in revenue. Microsoft price target raised to $600 from $512 at Barclays
• Positive Sentiment: New AI products broaden Microsoft’s growth opportunities. The Decision-1 model is described as faster and cheaper to operate than competing systems, while new Surface Pro and Surface Laptop devices add AI features, 5G connectivity and improved battery efficiency.
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors are weighing AI growth against spending. The Maia rollout could improve long-term economics, but Microsoft is committing substantial capital to data centers and chips. Analysts are monitoring whether shrinking free cash flow and high infrastructure costs offset Azure and Copilot growth.
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory and execution risks remain. Microsoft is conducting another round of layoffs in Israel, its research chief Peter Lee is leaving for Mercedes’ Formula 1 team, and Norway fined subsidiary Xandr €8.6 million over Grindr data sharing. Nadella and President Brad Smith are also calling for stronger AI safeguards, highlighting potential compliance costs and liability risks.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $543.45 on Wednesday. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $349.20 and a fifty-two week high of $553.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 1.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.04 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.10. The company's 50 day moving average price is $503.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $437.50.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $87.62 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.65 EPS. Microsoft's revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 19th will be issued 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.27%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on MSFT. Raymond James Financial cut shares of Microsoft from a "moderate buy" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 23rd. William Blair began coverage on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, October 5th. They set an "outperform" rating on the stock. DA Davidson reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $440.00 price target on Microsoft in a research note 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-two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $581.80.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 86,525 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $501.46, for a total value of $43,388,826.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 486,763 shares in the company, valued at approximately $244,092,173.98. This represents a 15.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares of the firm's 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 of the company's stock, valued at $49,007,086.83. The trade was a 9.05% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 143,009 shares of company stock valued at $71,420,699 in the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MSFT? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report).

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.